Attenuation
by Lynn Jones
Summary: After Arlua foiled Natsuki's attempt to get revenge on Izaya for her father's death, Natsuki's threat hangs over both technician and informant. Both have decided distance is best. But signals attenuate, or degrade, with distance, and the connection between them is now almost nonexistent. Sequel to Tech Support. IzayaXOC. ShizuoXOC.
1. Prologue

**All right, this is it. Tech Support ended last month, but I promised a sequel. This is it: Attenuation.**

**Disclaimer: I did not get ownership of Durarara for Christmas, so I still don't own anything but my OCs.**

Izaya scowled as he ran through Ikebukuro. He'd known that it easy risky to enter the city after the scene he and Shizuo had put on two weeks before, when they had destroyed even more of the city than usual… and he had begun ignoring the technician who had held most of his attention before that.

Since informing Shizuo of his intent to go underground, Izaya had not had any contact with Arlua Teki. No, make that since he had found out about the threat from her former friend and coworker, Netsuke Homerun. Specifically, if the Homeron believed Izaya and Arlua were working against her – the woman had a serious case of paranoia – then she would order them both killed.

Since Izaya hadn't managed to pinpoint who the individuals who were taking their orders from Netsuke, he had kept his distance from the technician, even refusing to answer the one time she had come by his office.

He wondered if she knew about the threat from her former friend.

But none of that was the reason for his frustration at the moment.

_Why did they have to be together today of all days?_ he grumbled to himself as he ducked to avoid a flying billboard and sidestepped the bullet aimed at his feet.

Behind him, he heard Shizuo's familiar roar of fury and the newly-recognizable muted cough of Tania Yuuki's handgun.

_I really hope that's not live ammo,_ he thought as he weaved from side to side, trying to make it harder for her to shoot him.

"IZAYA! COME BACK HERE YOU DAMN FLEA!" Shizuo yelled. If Izaya had been in the mood to make a snappy retort like usual, it would have been drowned out by the sound of tearing metal. Izaya risked a glance over his shoulder and saw his blond enemy hefting a piece of guard rail.

Then the bullet hit his hip. He hissed and fell. The sound of her silenced weapon must have been covered by the sound of Shizuo mangling the guard rail, he realized as he caught himself just before hitting the pavement. As the information broker scrambled to his feet, he felt slender, strong fingers wrap around his wrist, preventing him from retrieving his switch blade as he had been about to do.

"Quit running and listen for two seconds, flea," Tania's voice ordered.

"Why should I do that, Yuki?" he inquired, twisting his wrist out of her grip.

"Because it's about Arlua," she replied. Izaya hid a frown and raised an eyebrow.

"If you haven't noticed, the technician and I aren't in contact anymore," he reminded her.

"I know. That's the problem. I'm sure you've dealt with everything that happened with her coworker, but she hasn't. She pretending it didn't happen. She's even pretending she doesn't know you." Izaya wanted to run, but then he noticed that Shizuo, who would usually be glaring at him and practically smoking from his ears even with Tania to calm him down, looked… worried.

So Izaya allowed himself a frown and tried to figure out why these two – two of the people in Ikebukuro who hated him most – had chased him down together and now instead of shooting him again or throwing any large and usually immovable objects at him, they were watching him worriedly.

He remembered something Tania had said.

"She's pretending she doesn't know me? I'm insulted," he murmured, putting some space between himself and the people who had been chasing him just a moment before. "But you're right; I have dealt with all the trouble Homeron caused."

"Well Arlua hasn't. She's ignoring it, like I said, and it's your fault for biding from her," Tania accused. Izaya smirked.

"I'm not hiding. I just have nothing to say to her," he said.

"Liar," Tania accused. "Now listen, she mopes and pretends she's not. I think she's bored. Nothing challenges her anymore, and she still hasn't gotten a new job – not because she hasn't had offers, but because none of them interest her. Now fix it."

"How am I supposed to fix her being bored? And why should I?" he demanded.

"I'm sure you can think of something. But if not, text me. I've got an idea," she added, turning away. Izaya blinked.

"I don't have your phone number," he pointed out. Tania glanced over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

"You're an informant. Do your job and you'll be fine," she told him. Then she took Shizuo's hand, and the two walked away side by side as if they hadn't just chased him through the city to tell him that. And as if she hadn't just shot him. Which reminded him… he turned his attention to the small wound on his hip and decided he would drop by Shinra's before he went home. It wasn't painful or bleeding a lot, but he knew it would limit his mobility. Good thing Tania used birdshot with her silenced handgun.


	2. Accepting the Offer

**Okay! Chapter One! Now introducing Arlua's new pen pal, who shall be known as Kura-kun! **

**Please please please review! I love reviews and they make me want to keep updating frequently!**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs, though there are a lot of those. The email addresses are made up to suit my own nefarious purposes, by the way.**

Arlua frowned at the new email in her inbox. It had been sent to her personal email, which she had changed just a few days before, and it was from an address she didn't recognize. She opened it hesitantly and scanned the message.

To: Lu_Chan

From: Naukra23

Subject: bored?

Miss Arlua Teki, an acquaintance of mine has told me a lot about you, and I thought it might be interesting to contact you and see for myself if you are as intriguing as you sound. I heard you've been bored lately. So have I. There is no pressure for you to reply, but if you wish, I believe we could keep each other entertained.

Arlua tilted her head, considering, then replied.

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: bored?

An acquaintance? Interesting. Perhaps you should tell me a bit about yourself and why you find what you've heard about me so intriguing.

While she was waiting for a reply, her phone buzzed, alerting her to a text from Tania.

'Hey, I told someone to email you since you've been bored and mopey. He should've emailed you by now.' Arlua glanced at her computer screen and smiled.

'Excellent timing. Just got it. But why did you give him my new private email?' Tania's only response was a smiling emoticon. Arlua scowled.

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: re: bored?

I heard you are a skilled technician who recently pulled off several interesting feats, including handling a rather irritating client. I heard you are friends with a certain bodyguard and his new girlfriend and their circle of friends.

As for me, I maintain a network of contacts. I enjoy interesting people. I recently lost contact with one of the most interesting people I have ever met, and am looking for someone to keep me entertained. Does that satisfy you, Lu-Chan?

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: re: re: bored?

For now, that is enough. I assume that if we remain in contact I will learn more about you. Unless you continue to call me Lu-chan, in which case I would ignore your emails.

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: Lu-Chan

Aw, why can't I call you Lu-chan? It's a cute nickname!

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: Lu-Chan

Because I said so, that's why. May I call you Kura-kun?

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: re: Lu-Chan

Kura-kun is fine. If I can't call you Lu-Chan, can I call you Tek-chan?

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: re: re: Lu-Chan

Whatever. Just as long as you don't call me Lu-chan.

Izaya smirked a little. So, she didn't want to be called by the nickname he had given her, but she was using it as her new email? Maybe he had been more important to her than he had thought after she rejected his offer of a private support contract.

His hip twinged as he shifted in his chair, reminding him that Tania Yuuki certainly thought he had been important to the technician. But if that was true, why hadn't she accepted? If she had been telling the truth when she said that she loved him, why had she walked out without looking back?

Maybe she had known about Natsuki's threat, he realized. If so, would she come back if he found a way to convince Natsuki to repeal her demand that they stay apart? Izaya sighed and forced himself to focus on his work.

Arlua sat back with a slight smile. She knew she had probably confused her new contact by refusing to allow him to call her by the name she was using as her email address, and it amused her that he had so quickly come up with a new nickname.

"Tek-Chan, huh?" she murmured. "Maybe you really can help me stop being 'bored and mopey,' Kura-kun." The technician switched to her other email, the one she was using to coordinate job offers – most of which she had rejected outright and some of which she had simply ignored. The jobs she was being offered simply didn't interest her. The people who contacted her directly were dull or transparent or both. For the most part, they wanted her skill to help their companies but had no real personality of their own.

Except, of course, the one person who had emailed her every day since he had offered her a job in person, the one person whose offer she hadn't rejected immediately or ignored: Yatsuhiro Yamakawa of FanaTECH.

Today's email was as interesting as the others had been; each day he tried a different tactic, including flattery, veiled hints that she could get revenge on Natsuki for "losing" her job at SupportTech, and appealing payment and scheduling options.

Today's email revealed more than Yamakawa probably wanted it to though. Unless he wanted her to think that. Maybe he was simply doing his best to keep her interested.

To: .support

From: Fana

Subject: interest

Miss Teki, I'm sure you're bored with my offers by now, but since you haven't sent me a rejection, I will continue to hope that you are still considering working for me. It has come to my attention that a certain information broker has dissolved his support contract with SuportTech. I would like to snag his contract for my company, even though he is primarily located in Shinjuku, but he insists that he doesn't want another contract.

Given your previous association with this particular informant, I was hoping that he would take a contract with my company if you were my employee. An associate of mine has informed me that you got along well with him while you worked for SupportTech.

It is my hope that whether you want to continue your association with him or not, you will change your mind and join my company.

Arlua tilted her head. So Yatsuhiro Yamakawa knew about her being the technician assigned to Izaya. Interesting. Maybeeven interesting enough to try working for him. Maybe he could help her find him again, since the aggravating little germ had been avoiding her for almost two and a half weeks now – ever since he had informed Shizuo that he was "going underground".

_Going underground, my foot,_ the technician thought. _I'm the only one he's hiding from. According to Supai, everything else is business as usual for his cousin._

_I just wish I knew why he's avoiding me. Did he find out about Natsuki's threat?_ Arlua shook her head to clear it. _It doesn't matter. Unless I can find a way to talk to him without arousing Natsuki's suspicions so I can snap at him for vanishing on me._ She sighed; she knew that probably wasn't going to happen, and reminded herself that she was supposed to be forgetting that she had ever met the irritating informant.

Arlua looked at the email from Yamakawa again.

_I shouldn't let this of all things pull me in._

But she replied anyway.

To: Fana

From: .support

Subject: re: interest

Yamakawa, I have decided to accept your job offer. When and where would you like me to start?

To: .support

From: Fana

Subject: re: re: interest

Miss Teki, I'm thrilled! I have attached a list of clients who need support. I've been swamped and haven't gotten to them yet. Would you visit them tomorrow and see what you can do?

Arlua sighed. Too late to back out now, she told herself. She needed to start working again soon anyway; she had only saved so much while working at SupportTech.


	3. Wondering

**If you have no idea what's going on so far, that might be because you haven't read Tech Support. If you have read tech Support and still don't know what's going on, well, that's because you're not supposed to!**

**Disclaimer: After all the oneshots and chapters of Tech Support, you'd think people would know by now, by whatever. I still don't own anything except my OCs.**

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: Job

I don't know if you care or not, since we just "met" so to speak, but I decided to accept one of the many job offers that have been made to me. I've been between jobs for over two weeks despite said job offers.

Izaya frowned at the email. Which job offer had she decided to take? He knew she'd had half a dozen at least, and that was just the Shinjuku ones.

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: Job

That's great, Tek-chan! Why the sudden decision to accept?

The information broker waited for her reply, still frowning slightly. None of the offers he knew of seemed like the type of thing she would enjoy. Most of it was grunt work, according to his contacts. But maybe he had missed one. Or maybe…

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: re: Job

` One of the first offers I got after I quit at SupportTech. I refused at first, but I changed my mind. The guy who made the offer is more interesting than most of the other people who wanted me to work for them.

Izaya blinked. An interesting person…he allowed himself to wonder if maybe she had decided to ignore Natsuki's threat and accept his offer. Or maybe she and Natsuki had worked things out without anyone noticing? Maybe she didn't know about Natsuki's threat and had been telling the truth the last time she had been in his office, and had some other reason for walking away.

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: re: re: Job

Who is this interesting person, if you don't mind my asking?

He waited for her reply, ignoring the fact that he really should be gathering more information about Natsuki, looking for something to make her retract her threat. Otherwise, he would never be able to contact Arlua without risking both their lives.

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: nosiness

Curiosity killed the cat, Kura-kun. You shouldn't look into other people's business too much, or you might find something you don't like. You probably wouldn't know him, anyway. But I'll, give you a description since from what you said before, being nosy is kind of your job.

He has black hair, brown eyes, and this unusual fur-trimmed jacket that he was wearing when I saw him.

Izaya blinked. He had contemplated the possibility that she meant him before, of course, but it hadn't actually seemed like a possibility. Now it did.

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: nosiness

Satisfaction brought it back, Tek-chan.

That description actually matches someone I know. Name? It might be the same person.

He waited, tense. Would Arlua answer with what he thought she was about to? What other answer would there be?

Then again, he had thought he knew what her answer to his offer of a private technology support contract would be, so maybe he shouldn't be so sure.

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: re: nosiness

Yatsuhiro Yamakawa. He runs a company called FanaTECH. Do you really know him?

Izaya let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, and it came out as a mix between a his and a growl.

Not the answer he had thought after all.

_I really need to stop trying to predict Lu-chan,_ he thought absently as he tried to decide how to reply. _But then, as soon as I do, she'll probably do what I would expect just to mess with me. After all, she's still more than human, even if I have been avoiding her for two and a half weeks._

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: re: re: nosiness

No, it's not who I thought it was. I might have to look into him, though; one should know about the boss of one's friends, ne?

He knew he was taking a risk by using his usual speech pattern in his email with her. She was smart; she might manage to connect the dots.

He wasn't sure if that would be a good thing or not.

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: re: re: re: nosiness

Friends, huh? Is that what we are now, Kura-kun?

Izaya blinked. Had she not caught his phrasing, or had she chosen to not comment, he wondered.

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: re: re: re: re: nosiness

But of course, Tek-chan!~ You're the most interesting friend I have!~

Arlua glanced at her phone and laughed.

_That sounds like something Izzy would say,_ she thought, smiling as she read the short email. She glanced up at the progress of the operating system she was reinstalling for the last client on the list Yamakawa had given her the day before. Once this installation finished, she would be free to wander around Ikebukuro, which she had taken to doing in the weeks since she last saw Izaya. She half-hoped she would see him, even if it was just a glimpse as he darted through the city, avoiding impossibly large projectiles from Shizuo or bullets from Tania or Supai or whatever. As long as she didn't have any actual contact with him, they would be safe and she would be able to continue forgetting.

Maybe that was the real reason she was enjoying emailing back and forth with "Kura-kun," whoever he really was, and part of why she had accepted Yamakawa's offer. Kura-kun acted like Izaya, and Yamakawa looked like him.

Maybe she wasn't doing as good of a job at forgetting Izaya as she had hoped she was.


	4. Run-In With The Boss

**If you're reading and haven't reviewed, please know that I want to hear your opinion and would love it if you would review! **

**As my dear brother has pointed out to me, there are a lot of emails in the previous chapter. That's because the emails between Arlua and "Kura-kun" are going to be important to the plot and I want to set the stage. Now that I've done that, I'll have more in-person interaction. So if you've been disappointed with the lack of regular dialogue and interaction, well, I'm fixing that in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: In case you missed it, Yatsuhiro is now on the list of the many OCs I have in this fanfic, and therefore is one of the few things I own, since I don't own Durarara.**

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: work

I have to say that working for FanaTECH hasn't been as interesting as I had hoped.

Yeah, it's my second day, but it's all been tedious stuff I don't even have to troubleshoot because I've seen the same issues a million times.

Arlua sighed as she left her final client on Friday, her second day of working for Yatsuhiro Yamakawa. She had suffered (in her opinion) through two whole days of the most boring technology support and repair that she had experienced since her first week at SupportTech.

And to make it worse, no one had been able to meet her for lunch, so she had eaten by herself and been bored out of her mind.

_Even Kura-kun hasn't answered my email,_ she thought grumpily.

"Miss Teki! There you are!" Arlua turned and blinked, astonished. Anyone else probably would have thought for a moment that it was a certain information broker who was running through the crowd toward them, but Arlua had recognized the voice and knew who to expect before she even turned around. So recognizing Yatsuhiro Yamakawa instead of Izaya Orihara wasn't the reason for her surprise; the vending machine that landed two steps behind the running figure was.

"IZAYA!" Shizuo's voice roared even as the man himself came into view through the crowd – or rather over it, because of his height – with a street sign already in hand after launching the vending machine at Yamakawa.

"Miss Teki! Run!" Yamakawa yelped as he darted toward her. She sighed.

"Shi, that's not him!" she called, hoping Shizuo wasn't so enraged that he wouldn't hear her.

Unfortunately, it seemed that he was, because he simply launched the street sign. Arlua reached out as her new boss passed her and yanked him sideways, out of the path of the airborne sign. The technician grimaced and pulled her boss through the crowd, ducking and yanking on his furry jacket – so much like Izaya's – to get him to duck as well, letting the press of people trying to avoid Shizuo's rampant anger hide them.

She wasn't scared; she knew Shizuo was only acting like this because he thought Yamakawa was Izaya. But she also had enough common sense to know that he was beyond reasoning right now, and the safest thing for everyone was to force Yamakawa to lay low until he calmed down. Plus her friend would feel horrible if he hurt, maimed, or killed someone on accident because they looked like his enemy.

"Miss Teki, what are we going to-"

"Just Teki is fine, Yamakawa. And what we're going to do is let Shizuo calm down, and then we'll find him and I'll explain that you just look like the little germ, so hopefully he won't jump the gun-"

"Or the vending machine," he muttered. Arlua rolled her eyes and continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"-the next time he sees you. Though I have to say, you should get a different jacket if you don't want to be mistaken for Izzy."

"But I like this jacket. Plus it was on sale because no one was buying it," he explained as they made their way to a side street, away from Shizuo's roars, apparently not noticing that she referred to the infamous informant as "Izzy."

"Gee, I wonder why," the technician deadpanned. Yamakawa glanced at her and smiled. She noticed that even when he was joking around, his smile wasn't mocking. It was sincere and full of good humor. The complete opposite of Izaya.

_Maybe that's what I need,_ she thought. _I can make myself forget him by focusing on the people around me, especially the ones that act nothing like him._

"Hey, Teki. Did you finish with the last client?" Yamakawa asked.

"Yeah, I did. It was easy; they just had their cables in the wrong ports. Why?" He glanced at her, expression cautious but hopeful.

"I was wondering if you might like to get something to eat," he said. Arlua considered. "I heard some rumors about that informant I supposedly look like. I can tell you over dinner, and by then maybe Heiwajima will have calmed down."

_The idea of hearing about Izzy should_ not_ be a convincing argument,_ she told herself firmly. But it was.

"All right. Any preferences for food?" she asked. When he shook his head, she looked around and smiled. "Ever been to Russia Sushi?" He blinked.

"That place with the big Russian guy out front?" he replied. When she nodded, his expression turned wary. "I've never been, but I've heard mixed things about it."

"Some of their stuff is a little weird, but it's pretty good. Especially if you're a regular. Just don't drink the tea," she advised. His smile returned, a little hesitant but infinitely softer than Izaya's trademark smirk.

"So you want to eat there?" he questioned. She nodded.

"If that's all right with you," she replied. "I haven't been in a while. Maybe we'll even run into Kadota." She grinned at the thought; she hadn't seen her friend in a few days, and she wondered how he was doing. He'd seemed bothered the last time she had seen him.

_I really need to remember to get his phone number or email or something,_ she decided.

"Who's Kadota?" Yamakawa asked.

"A friend of mine, Kyohei Kadota. He's very helpful when I need someone to talk to or help thinking things through," she explained. His expression turned a little wistful, and she was amazed at how easy he was to read. With Izaya she had to concentrate and focus on his eyes and posture. With Tania she had to pay attention to the little things, like the slightest twitch in her expression. With Shizuo, his often-perpetual annoyance masked most other feelings – except recently when Tania was around – and with Shinra, his eternal fascination with all things medically weird made her avoid actually wondering what he was feeling for the most part. And then Celty had no face, so her emotions were extremely hard to decipher.

But Yatsuhiro Yamakawa was an open book. He didn't hide his feelings or reactions. As Arlua led her boss toward the Russian sushi restaurant, she was convinced the man didn't keep anything hidden at all.


	5. Russia Sushi

**And now, the next chapter, which I should have updates a lot sooner!**

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs. Still. In case you missed that the first few chapters.**

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: work

I apologize for not getting back to you sooner, Tek-chan. I had some business to attend to. Anyway, if you're bored, I'll see if I can rustle up something new for you.

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: re: work

Would you really? That would be great, Kura-kun!

Arlua grinned at her phone, then put it back in her pocket and focused on her boss, who was sitting across from her in Russia Sushi, frowning at his plate.

"Teki, are you sure this stuff is edible?" he whispered. "I don't think that's supposed to go on sushi…" Arlua wasn't even sure what it was that Simon had put on Yamakawa's plate. She grinned.

"It's edible, don't worry. Simon only poisons the food if you cause trouble," she assured him, keeping her expression straight. He tried and failed to hide his sudden rush of anxiety.

"Poison?"

"Not poison! It sushi! It's good! Eat up!" Simon put in as he walked past, smiling in a potentially frightening manner at the smaller man. The technician laughed at the way Yamakawa seemed to sink into his seat.

"Don't worry, he won't hurt you. He's as tough as Shi, but he's also a pacifist," she told him. He blinked.

"Shi?"

"Shizuo Heiwajima. Sorry, sometimes I forget not everyone knows what I call all of my friends," she explained. He gaped at her.

"Let me get this straight," he said faintly. "You call Shizuo Heiwajima – who is the strongest and most violent man in Ikebukuro, and most people call a monster – you call him Shi?"

"Yeah. So? It's not like I call him Shizu-chan like that germ does," Arlua pointed out. Yamakawa nodded slowly.

"Right…and you said that sushi guy is as tough as Heiwajima?" Her boss glanced over at Simon nervously. Arlua tilted her head thoughtfully.

"Actually, he's stronger, since I'm told he used to break up the fights between Shi and Izzy all the time without getting hurt at all," she clarified.

"Izzy?"

"Oh, sorry. Izaya Orihara. I got in the habit of calling him that sometimes. I really need to stop calling him that," she added softly. Then she shook herself. "Speaking of the crazy germ, you said you had heard some rumors about him or something?" If Yamakawa noticed that she was purposefully changing the subject, he didn't show it.

_Which means he probably didn't really notice,_ she thought.

"Yeah. I heard he had a run-in with Heiwajima and that woman he's running around with now," her boss informed her. Arlua froze.

"You mean Tania Yuuki?" she whispered.

"That sounds like the right name. Anyway, they chased him through the city. Apparently they had something they wanted to talk to him about. They caught up with him when he went down, and had a nice little chat – no further violence – before they let him go," he elaborated. The technician frowned.

"They let him go? How did they bring him down?" she demanded.

"I believe the woman – Yuuki – shot him," he answered, not seeming to notice her worry. Or if he did, perhaps he assumed it was for her friends, not the information broker.

"Where?" she whispered, feeling the color drain from her face.

"Where what?"

"Where did he get hit?" she clarified shakily.

"The hip, I believe. I heard he's lucky that Yuuki uses birdshot," he confided, seemingly oblivious to the way she tensed. "Since a regular bullet to the hip would mean a stay in the hospital." Arlua fought to conceal her wince.

"I see." She barely noticed the door open.

_Tania shot Izaya. Why? And why did she let him go after that? Don't she and Shizuo both want to do more to him than that? If they took the trouble to chase him down, why on earth would they just…talk to him?_

"Teki, haven't seen you here in a while," a familiar voice called. She looked up and blinked. Then she grinned.

"Kadota!" she exclaimed, recognizing him. "No crazy otaku today?" The man smiled.

"She and Walker vanished into the bookstore an hour ago. Saburo sent me in for food," her friend explained. "How have you been? Seen him yet?" Arlua shook her head.

"I've given up on trying," she said softly. "I'm just trying to move on now." Kadota frowned, but sighed and nodded.

"Just remember that you shouldn't run from what happened," he said quietly. Arlua managed a smile.

"I know. But he's the one who's run away, Kadota," she reminded him. He sighed again and glanced at Yamakawa, who was following their conversation with a slightly confused expression.

"Hello," he greeted Arlua's boss, who nodded politely. The technician blinked, remembering he was there, and grimaced.

"Sorry; I haven't introduced you," she realized. "This is my friend, Kyohei Kadota. Kadota, Yatsuhiro Yamakawa here is my new boss."

"It's nice to meet you," Yamakawa said, bowing as well as he could while still sitting. Kadota nodded in reply. "No nickname for this one?" he added curiously, glancing at Arlua, who simply shrugged. She wasn't going to explain herself to her new boss so quickly, not after everything that had happened with Natsuki.

"Yamakawa was just telling me some rumors about Izaya. Do you know if he really got shot?" she inquired.

"I'd say it's about as true as the rumors of him kissing a woman in Shinjuku a few weeks ago," Kadota answered calmly, his voice and expression free of any indication that Arlua had in fact been the one kissing the infamous informant in plain sight.

"I see," she murmured.

"He's fine now; you know Yuuki uses birdshot when she hunts, unlike Supai," Kadota reminded her. The technician nodded.

"I wasn't worried about him," she lied. "I'm past that."

"Just as long as you've dealt with it instead of running," was the reply. "And Teki? Remember that lying to yourself is even worse than lying to other people." Then he turned and waved to Simon. "I have to place my order. See you around."

"Wait!" Arlua called. "Do you mind giving me your phone number or email address or something? So I can contact you if I need to?" He smiled at her and jotted something down on a spare sheet of paper.

"Of course. I should have told you how to contact me after the last time we talked," he agreed, handing her the paper. She took it and tucked it into her pocket.

"Thank you, Kadota," she said sincerely.

"No problem." Then Simon reached them, and Kadota focused on the Russian man.

"Isn't he the one who drives around in a van with his friends? He's supposed to be part of the Dollars, right?" Yamakawa asked softly. Arlua blinked.

"Yeah. I've heard that about their group, too," she answered, neither confirming nor denying his words. That was Kadota's business whether he wanted people to know the truth or not. "Done with your sushi?" When he nodded, she pulled out her wallet, only for him to frown.

"I'll pay," he told her. "I asked you to eat with me, and besides, the man should pay at least on the first date, right?" The technician blinked.

"Date?" she repeated. His smile was a little tentative, but hopeful.

"Isn't that what they usually call it when two people who get along spend time together?" he replied. She considered.

"Sometimes. But usually both people would agree that the outing was a date," she pointed out. His expression fell a bit.

"Ah. I see I was a bit too hasty. I should have been more patient. I apologize," he said, his face full of sincerity and regret. Arlua waved away his apology as her phone buzzed. She checked it. She had a new email from Kura-kun.

"I should be getting home," she told Yamakawa, standing. "Will you be sending me a list of clients for tomorrow too?"

"If not, I'll deliver it in person," he assured her. She smiled, then waved to Simon and Kadota before leaving.

_What would Izaya say, _she wondered, _if he knew that a man who looked so much like him and acted so differently wanted to date me._ Not that she was sure he really did want to date her.

_Plus, I don't actually care what Izaya thinks about anything,_ she told herself.


	6. Information Swaps

**Disclaimer: I STILL don't own DRRR!, and if I did, I wouldn't tell you.**

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: new toy

Here, Tek-chan. I've attached a new toy for you to play with. Don't kill too many people's computers, okay?

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: new toy

You're the best, Kura-kun!

Arlua grinned at the document Nakura had attached to his most recent email. It seemed to be meaningless symbols and displaced phrases, but she knew computer code when she saw it.

"Kura-kun, where on earth did you find this?" she murmured out loud, scanning the code.

_So if you try to delete it…it wipes your hard drive...twice?_ she realized, eyeing a particular section gleefully. _And if you have antivirus installed, it seeks it out and disables it. Nice._

The problem was, of course, the method of delivery. She would still have to bypass the firewall herself to plant the virus.

_Unless I add the code from one of my other successful viruses,_ she thought, pulling up the program file for one of her favorites.

Tania sighed as she left Raira, glad the week was over. She wanted to go home and get ready for the date she had planned with Shizuo that evening. Malcolm and Supai had planning to do for their next job, so they would be at Supai's house all weekend, meaning the teacher would have some time to herself before meeting up with her boyfriend.

"Yuuki-sensei!" Tania fought back the urge to roll her eyes – which she found herself doing more and more recently, probably because she had picked the habit up from Arlua – and turned to see one of her students.

"Ryuugamine. Can I help you?" she asked politely. The dark-haired boy hesitated.

"Well, you see, I was just wondering if Masaomi was still registered in school," he told her quietly. She sighed.

"Besides the fact that I'm not the principle, so I don't have direct access to that information, I'm not supposed to tell you anything about other students' files," Tania reminded him. The boy nodded.

"I know. But…unofficially…"

"Unofficially, I can tell you that I have heard that Masaomi Kida is still registered at Raira, but is on an extended leave of absence, so I'm sure he'll be back by the start of next term. If he's not, his registration will be revoked," she informed him. The boy looked down. "Don't worry. You could always ask Supai Orihara if you want to know more. I've heard he's a reliable source of information, and less manipulative than his cousin in Shinjuku."

"Really? Thank you, Yuuki-sensei," the student said with a bow. Tania allowed herself a small smile.

"You're welcome, Ryuugamine," she replied. The boy smiled back, then went over to the girl who was waiting for him, and they walked away side by side.

_That's another one you owe me, Supai,_ she thought. _How many people have I sent your way now?_

She shrugged and continued on her way.

"So, Ani-chan, you're sending potential clients to my disreputable cousin, are you?" a familiar voice inquired, breath stirring her hair as the owner of said voice whispered in her ear. Tania drove her elbow sharply into the person's stomach – or tried to. He was fast enough to take a half-step backwards so her blow met empty air.

_So much for having time to myself before I go to meet Shizuo._

"What did you call me?" she demanded.

"Ani-chan. Hasn't Shizu-chan started calling you Ani?" he smirked. She whirled and glared at him.

"I'm not even going to ask how you know that. Instead, I'll ask why you're here, when the last time I saw you, I shot you," she growled, forcing herself not to draw her weapon and fill him with enough birdshot to do real damage simply because the school was barely half a block away, and if she was seen with her gun out here, it would be known that she went to work armed. Which she technically wasn't supposed to do, despite her perfectly legal conceal-and-carry permit.

"I was just wondering how much you know about Lu-chan's new job," he said, purposely ignoring her reference to when she and Shizuo had chased him down.

"Ask her if you want to know. Aren't you her new friend Kura-kun?" she snapped, irritated with the informant. He smirked.

"Yes, but I would rather not seem too interested in her new boss, in case she figures out who 'Kura-kun' really is," he explained. "And since the whole pen pal thing was your idea, Ani-chan-"

"Quit calling me that, flea," she ordered. His smirk just widened, which made her fingers itch to reach for her hidden, silenced, and not-damaging-enough weapon. Of course he caught her movement.

"Tut tut, Ani-chan,~" he admonished. "If you want me to stop calling you names you don't like, then you should be nicer to me and give me the information I want.~" Tania hid her scowl and put her hands on her hips.

"Yatsuhiro Yamakawa. His company, FanaTECH, is completely legitimate as far as I know. If he has a dark side to himself or his company, I haven't heard anything about it. He's a fairly average guy, known for compassion and other niceties. He's also known to look quite a bit like you, to the extent that rumor has it Shizuo's scared him to death and maybe even injured him a few times, thinking he was you," she added, not letting her smug smile show as Izaya frowned at that last bit. The teacher knew he probably hated the idea of other people being mistaken for him when he hadn't planned for it to happen, simply because it was something he couldn't control. "You're lucky Yamakawa's such a nice guy; if he weren't, then he might do something you would get in trouble for, like try to mess with an operation you set up," she continued. "And it will be good for Arlua to have someone who's nice to her working with her, even if he does resemble you."

Izaya bit back a retort.

"Thanks, Ani-chan," he said, hiding a grimace. "A little more than I wanted to know, but thanks. Have a nice date with Shizu-chan." Then he turned on his heel and walked away. Tania blinked at his abrupt departure.

"You better not show up again today, flea!" she called after him before continuing on her way back to her apartment. Izaya didn't answer, just put his hood up and shoved his hands into his pockets.

_If he's so nice, then would she…no. Of course not. Lu-chan wouldn't fall for a nice, simple guy like that, would she?_

The problem was, he just didn't know. She was so unpredictable; had her attachment to him been a fluke? Did she normally like the compassionate ones, not 'challenges' like him? Or had she even really been attached to him at all?


	7. Getting Much Better

**Disclaimer: the number of OCs I have in this story is getting ridiculous. But they're still all I own, so I suppose that's all right.**

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: improved

I playing with the code you sent me, and I've improved the delivery process. Would you like to test it for me? I would do it myself, but Yamakawa keeps a legitimate business, no one to try out my new toys on.

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: improved

Improved the delivery? That's rather wicked of you, Tek-chan~

I would love to test it for you. Send it to me?

To: Nakura23

From: Lu-Chan

Subject: re: improved

Excellent! I've attached the program file.

Tania sighed. Between talking to Ryuugamine and then enduring her surprise visit from Izaya, she hadn't had much time to get ready. Still, she couldn't help but smile when she heard the knock on her apartment door.

"Hey, Shizuo. You're a little early," she said as she opened the door.

"Nope. I'm right on time," an unfamiliar voice replied. Tania froze, realizing there was a stranger on her doorstep and she had left her gun in its hiding place in her bedroom. The man was older, in his fifties or so, dressed like a businessman, with graying black hair and sharp black eyes. His face was lined as if from a lifetime of worrying, with several small scars, the most noticeable of which was at the corner of his mouth, pulling his lips upward slightly into a sort of twisted smile. "My name is Karito Yamakawa. I have some questions for you. It would be in your best interest to answer honestly, Miss Yuuki," he informed her. She frowned; he was a large man, but she thought she was probably faster and in better fighting shape than he was, if his rounded middle and even rather than toned arms were any indication. Though she was fairly sure she could detect the outline of a shoulder holster beneath his suit jacket.

_Plus, Shizuo will be here in a few minutes,_ she reminded herself. If this man was more than she could handle, she would still be able to hold him off long enough for Shizuo to arrive.

"Very well. Would it also be in my best interest to let you in, or can we have this conversation as we are?" she inquired. He smiled.

"Ah, Miss Yuuki, you are as sensible as I had heard. It would be more productive for you to allow me into your apartment," he answered. She nodded and stepped back, hiding her emotions and thoughts behind her usual blank expression. He stepped inside and closed the door, but didn't lock it – a desire for privacy, but not trapping her, she thought.

"I'm afraid that, like many other visitors I've had who approached me in a similar manner, you are under the incorrect impression that I am directly involved with my brother's activities, which I am not," she stated calmly.

"I see you are aware of those activities, though," he pointed out. Before she could reply, he waved a hand dismissively. "I haven't come to see you about your brother. Actually, I came to see you about Orihara."

"Izaya? If this is about him, I have even less knowledge of his movements than I have of my brother's," she told him.

"No, the other Orihara. The younger one, his cousin. You have been referring information requests to him for quite some time. I would like to ask why," the man told her. She tilted her head, keeping her expression neutral.

"I don't see how that's relevant. I simply tell people where they might find the information they're looking for," she replied.

"Ah, but why tell them to go to the younger, less experienced Orihara?"

"Why not?" she countered. He frowned.

"You seem to be under the impression that avoiding or redirecting my questions will end pleasantly for you," the man said quietly. "This is a mistake. Answer me truthfully and immediately, or I will no longer ask nicely."

"Yes, because using poorly veiled threats is 'asking nicely'," she replied calmly. He scowled and pulled his suit jacket aside, revealing the shoulder holster she had suspected he had. "Tell me, do you have a conceal-and-carry permit, or are you concealing illegally?"

"Answer my question, Miss Yuuki," he ordered, unholstering his weapon and leveling it at her.

"If you shoot me there, you'll never get your answer," she pointed out. "And honestly, I don't see why it matters."

"If it doesn't matter, then you shouldn't have any objection to telling me," he replied evenly, lowering the muzzle of the gun so it was aimed at her thigh, a less immediately lethal but no less dangerous target if left untreated. "You have three seconds to answer before I pull this trigger. One."

Tania kept her face blank, unfazed by the weapon. Still, it would be better to answer and get rid of this guy than spend her evening in a hospital instead of with her boyfriend.

"Two."

"Because Supai is more local, and he is also less selective about his clients. Izaya only takes the jobs that interest him; Supai needs the any potential boost to his experience and reputation as much as he can. Plus, he's just as good if not better than Izaya was at Supai's age," Tania said evenly, as if she had simply decided to have this discussion now because she felt like it, rather than because he was aiming a gun at her. His polite expression became a smirk.

_Let him smirk,_ she thought coolly. _Let him believe he has me suitably cowed. _

Someone knocked on the door.

"Ani? You ready?" Shizuo's voice called. Tania hid a smirk of her own with difficulty. She met Karito's gaze steadily, daring him to fire and attract attention as she opened her mouth to reply.

"Just talking to someone," she called back. "Come on in; I'll be done in a minute," she added, daring her visitor to object.

"Who is that?" he hissed, smirk vanishing. If she was calling the person in, she had to be confident that he either wouldn't interfere or wouldn't be threatened by him. Tania allowed herself a small smirk.

"Not as omniscient as you'd like me to think, are you?" she murmured. The man kept his gaze on her, not turning around as the door opened. Louder, Tania called, "Hey, Shizuo. This is Karito Yamakawa. He's been asking me some questions, and he's not the nicest guest." The man's eyes widened.

"Shizuo?" he repeated, whirling to find himself face-to-face – or rather, face-to-chest because of their height difference – with Shizuo Heiwajima. The man automatically stepped back and brought his gun up, level with the blond's chest.

"You're pointing a gun at me. That means you want to kill me, right? So you can't object if I kill you? And you were just pointing it at her, so you were threatening her. That means You REALLY can't object if I kill you," Shizuo snarled, clenching his jaw and seizing the man's weapon in one hand. Metal crunched as the bodyguard tightened his grip, crushing the gun easily. The man gulped.

Tania gave him a predatory smile.

"I just have to get my purse, okay? If you take him outside so you don't destroy my apartment with him, you can beat him up or kill him or whatever while I get it," she told him. He bared his teeth threateningly, then dropped the now-mangled gun before grabbing Karito by his shirtfront and hauling him out of the room. Tania's smile became tinted with pride. "He's getting much better and containing his anger until the right time," she murmured to herself as she fetched her purse and tucked her gun into it.


	8. The Cousins Don't Get Along

**Disclaimer: Let's play a game called "List the Things Lynn Owns". I'll ask you a question, and you answer. The question is: "What, if anything, in this story does Lynn own?" The answer, in case you didn't know, is "Only the OCs."**

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: information

Have you heard about the two Orihara information brokers? I mean, my associate who told me about you mentioned that you know quite a bit about Izaya Orihara, but have you heard about his cousin, Supai? Apparently the two have a little battle going on over who's the better informant, despite Supai still being in high school. From what I hear, it's not much of a battle; Izaya is, of course, much better than an amateur like Supai. But I've heard the younger Orihara is surprisingly skilled.

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: information

Silly Kura-kun. Of course I know about Supai. I'm starting to use him for finding out about new viruses and stuff, since Yamakawa is so fixated on keeping me performing routine tasks. And I've heard rumors of Supai trying to shoot Izaya while Izaya throws knives at him, so I figured they didn't get along.

Supai frowned when he saw the man standing outside Malcolm's apartment building. He knew all the people who lived on or frequently visited this particular neighborhood, and he was positive that he had never seen this man before.

"Hey, Malcolm, do you know that guy?" the young informant asked. His friend shook his head.

"Looks like Heiwajima was here though," the emotionless boy pointed out, nodding indifferently to the imprint of a human body in the grass in front of the building, as if someone had been thrown into the ground with exceptional force.

"Wonder who it was," Supai murmured, glancing around. The man who had been standing outside the building walked over to them.

"Hello. Supai Orihara and Malcolm Yuuki, I presume?" the man greeted them. Malcolm shifted his weight, balancing easily on the balls of his feet, ready to counter any attack the stranger might make, even as Supai took a half-step sideways to give his friend more room to move.

"Can I help you?" Supai asked, drawing the man's focus to himself, allowing Malcolm the freedom to position himself to observe with his clinical, emotionless clarity.

"If you're Supai Orihara, then yes, I believe you can," the stranger replied. "I heard from a reliable source that you are just as good an information broker as Izaya Orihara himself was at your age."

"Better, actually. But that doesn't mean I'll help you," Supai pointed out. "Especially since I don't know your name." The man chuckled.

"You're certainly more straightforward than your cousin, that's for sure," he observed.

"Comes from me not being a complete basket case like the maggot," Supai countered. "Your name, please, or I will leave immediately."

"Karito Yamakawa. I want to offer you a job," he stated. Supai raised his eyebrows.

"Sure, if it's information I can get you," he replied. The man laughed.

"You misunderstand, Orihara," he told the high schooler.

"Please, call me Supai. I never go by my last name; it makes things too confusing with my cousin in the same business as I am," he interrupted. Karito frowned, then continued as if the boy hadn't spoken.

"I don't want to simply have you retrieve one bit of information for me. I want to hire you permanently." Supai felt Malcolm's gaze shift to him briefly, then transfer back to Karito.

"Why?"

"Because I'm told you are very good considering your age and lack of experience, as I mentioned before. But I also see the potential to be a better informant than your cousin. With the right help, you could drive him out of business; I know there is no love lost between the two of you. If you worked exclusively for me, you would have the steady financial backing to actively move against him, instead of passively picking up clients that might otherwise have gone to him," the man explained. Again, Supai felt Malcolm's gaze on him for a moment, and this time he glanced sideways to meet his friend's gaze. The other boy's expression was as blank as ever, but he tilted his head just the slightest bit, indicating Karito in what Supai knew was a questioning manner. The young informant smiled slightly and shook his head, then turned back to Karito.

"Thank you for your generous offer, Mister Yamakawa," Supai began, "but I must decline. You see, I intend to beat my cousin without anyone's help. I will make my own way in this city, the same way he did, but I will do it better. I will steal his clients one by one, steal both Ikebukuro and Shinjuku out from under his nose before he registers me as a true threat. I will prove once and for all that I am better than my cousin, that I can do whatever he does, and do it better. And I will do it without tying myself to any one person or group. So if you still want information, I will do the best I can to get it for you, but I won't be on a constant payroll, since that would require me to share all information I gain with you, instead of the information you pay for specifically. If I worked only for you, I wouldn't be a true information broker, and beating Izaya would prove nothing."

"That's quite the speech, but would you change your mind if I told you that should you refuse my offer, I will go to your cousin and employ him instead – and tell him your plan to usurp him?" Karito inquired pointedly. Supai laughed.

"You do that. He'll laugh you out of his office. Izaya knows I plan to beat him at his own game. He also knows that it will be years before I am a true match for him. And if you tell him that you tried to recruit me first, he'd probably refuse to work for you. My cousin doesn't like being second choice," the boy said smugly. Karito scowled.

"That teacher was more cooperative than you, and she got me thrown down so hard I made a crater in the ground," he snapped. Malcolm moved then, his foot snapping up and around to slam into the man's side. An instant later, as Karito grunted and shifted away from further blows, Supai drew his concealed handgun and pressed it to the side of the man's neck. Malcolm glared at him, something dark and dangerous in his gaze.

"What did you do to my sister?" the emotionless boy demanded. His voice was still flat and toneless, but there was an edge to it. The man shook his head slowly.

"I thought you didn't have emotions," he muttered.

"Not like other people have. But no one is allowed to threaten or harm my sister. Or my friend," Malcolm said shortly. Supai clicked the safety off of his weapon.

"And I don't take kindly to people interfering with his sister either. If you've hurt her…"

"She's fine. Her stupid monster of a boyfriend came in and tossed me around. The bitch didn't even give me any real information," he growled. Supai considered just shooting the man then and there, but he caught a glimpse of his friend's movement and pulled the gun away from his neck just as Malcolm's fist connected with the man's jaw, sending him staggering backwards.

"If Tania is with Shizuo, then she's safe from you. But if you hurt her or even go near her again, you will never be safe from us," Malcolm said emotionlessly. Karito glared at them and reached instinctively for his gun, forgetting that the weapon was still a mangled, unrecognizable lump of metal in Tania's apartment. He froze.

"If I were you, Mister Yamakawa, I would leave now," Supai advised. "Since you apparently don't have whatever weapon you thought you did." Karito glowered at them, then turned and stalked away. Supai lowered his gun and turned to Malcolm. "Let's get those papers we came for, then drop by the restaurant Tania and Heiwajima are supposed to be at on the way back to my place, just to make sure they're okay. You still know where they were planning on going, right?"

"They're going to Konaya," Malcolm replied. "Not exactly on the way."

"You know what I meant. Come on," Supai muttered, leading the way up to the apartment Tania and Malcolm shared.


	9. The Virus

**This chapter is a week and a half after the last one.**

**Disclaimer: I own only my many, varied, and increasingly crazy OCs.**

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: results

It took longer than I expected (I've been busy the last week and a half, but don't worry, I didn't forget about it), but I have a report on the effectiveness of the virus you altered. The latest version, the one you sent me the day after you fixed the delivery code, works marvelously, Tek-chan!~

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: results

Wonderful! Should I ask who you infected with it?

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: re: results

I'm sure it's no one you know. But the virus is highly contagious, so maybe you'll see it while working.~ It's also got some effects that I didn't anticipate, so be careful. Or did you make more changes than you told me about?

Oh, and I may have added a twist of my own.

Supai glared at his computer. Why had it shut down? The high schooler booted up his machine and frowned at the message displayed on the screen.

"An unknown program has been detected and will now be deleted?" he read out loud. "What the- hey! No!" he yelped, seeing the program file name. "Don't delete that! Stop! I was using that to decrypt the stuff I stole!" But the computer didn't listen. A notification came up, assuring him that the 'unknown program' had been deleted, and he was not to worry.

The notification was signed.

Supai scowled when he saw the signature.

"I'm going to hurt you, cousin," the boy growled. "But first, I'm going to call Arlua."

"Hey, there's a kid at the door," Namie called. Izaya frowned; he hadn't been expecting any visitors today.

"Let him in," he ordered absently, focused on his work for once. He heard his secretary show the visitor into the office, and glanced up to find his younger cousin glaring at him.

"I'm going to kill you," the boy snarled. "I was in the middle of decrypting a file, and your stupid virus shut my computer down and deleted my encryption software!" Izaya tilted his head.

"My virus? I didn't know I had one," he said pleasantly. "What makes you think it's mine?"

"Because it had YOUR SIGNATURE on it," the boy growled. Izaya shook his head and tutted.

"You realize that anyone could digitally forge a signature? Or just take a picture of it and put it in there?" he pointed out. Supai's scowl deepened.

"You realize the file I was decrypting held information about a potential threat to the person you asked me to keep an eye on?" he snapped. Izaya frowned.

"What?" The older informant hid his surprise behind a curious mask.

"Her employer, Yatsuhiro Yamakawa? His father, Karito Yamakawa, threatened and tried to question Tania and then tried to recruit me. I've been investigating him, and I almost had his real identity. I was just decrypting the file I managed to steal that had information about who commissioned the identities 'Karito Yamakawa' and 'Yatsuhiro Yamakawa' made and why," Supai told him. "All I got was their real last name before _your stupid virus_ kicked in. I just hope Arlua can fix whatever you did to my computer." Izaya hid his reaction and sighed.

"It wasn't my virus. But why don't you tell me the last name, and I'll look into them, too?" he suggested. Supai scowled.

"Fine. But only because you came to me for help protecting her, and I guess this counts," the boy muttered. "I was planning on telling you anyway, once I had all of the information. Here." He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and laid it on his cousin's desk. Izaya picked it up and read it, then put it down.

"So what was that you said about Lu-chan?"

"I called her to fix my computer. She's at my place now, working on it," Supai explained. "Partly because my house is relatively safe, and partly because-"

"You may be able to hack and steal files, but you have no idea how to get rid of a virus," Izaya interrupted. Supai glowered at him.

"Shut up."

"How's she doing?" Izaya asked.

"I thought you didn't need my reports anymore, since you're emailing her," Supai countered. Izaya sighed inwardly and smiled outwardly.

"If you know that much, then you know that she's not very open with 'Kura-kun' about her feelings," he said lightly.

"She's fine. Getting better. She's bored out of her mind at work. I guess legitimate computer support isn't as stimulating as her mostly-illegal stuff with SupportTech was. Oh, and that guy she works for, the one who's using an allias, the one I was about to find out the truth about before your virus kicked in? She's with him a lot. Alone. They're not officially dating, but it looks like it's headed that way," the high schooler told his cousin, watching for any reaction, any sign of weakness. If he really thought he was going to see any, though, he was disappointed.

"All right. That's all," Izaya told him. Supai nodded and turned on his heel, only pausing to call over his shoulder.

"Once this is done and I'm not doing this for you anymore, I really am going to get you for what you did to my poor computer," he stated calmly. Then he left.

"So that's your cousin," Namie murmured. "He reminds me of you."

"Oh, don't insult me, Namie," Izaya scolded lightly. "I was never like him. He's too focused on one person; I spread my attention over the whole of humanity."

"Which makes you worse than him, not better," she decided. "So what does it say?" she added, nodding toward the piece of paper Supai had left.

"Ever heard of the Nakao family?" the informant asked.

Arlua shook her head when Supai walked into the living area of the apartment he had called her to so she could get a virus off his computer.

"Who did you irritate, Supai?" she asked. "This virus is unique."

"So you don't know who made it?" he sighed. He'd been hoping she would recognize it as something his cousin had made; then he'd have proof. But her expression became a little mysterious and…was that _pride_ he saw in her eyes?

"Of course I do; it's a highly diverse and contagious virus. It reacts differently based on what you're doing when it infects your computer and how you react to its first move," she explained. "For it to have deleted this software, you must have been working on some sort of security program – encryption or decryption, I'd say."

"Yeah. So who made it?" he demanded.

"I don't know who provided the source program…but I perfected this virus a week and a half ago," she told him.

Supai groaned.

"Seriously? How did a virus you made get on my computer?" he asked. She glanced over at him, almost smirking.

"Highly contagious, remember? One of my test computers probably came into indirect contact with yours," she replied cheerfully. "So it's a good thing you called me, because anyone else would have done the wrong thing and gotten your hard drive wiped – twice."

_Why did I agree to keep an eye on this woman?_ Supai wondered. _Oh yeah. Because I was so smug about being able to do something the maggot couldn't. _


	10. Plots

**Disclaimer: does anyone still read these? If so, you already know what I'm going to say, and if not, well, it doesn't matter if I say it or not, but I'll say it anyway. I only own my OCs.**

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: virus

Remember that virus you gave me the base for and then tested for me? It ended up on a friend's computer, funnily enough. You were right; it works wonderfully!

"You wanted to see me, sister?" Natsuki looked up and sighed.

"Hello, Akuro. Come in and sit down," she ordered. He obeyed. "Did you find out what he was doing?"

"The boy visited his cousin, as you suspected. I believe that he and his bounty hunter friend have been keeping an eye on the technician on the older Orihara's orders. What the boy has to gain from that, I don't know. I didn't find any evidence that the technician knows about the surveillance, or that Izaya has tried to contact her, or that the boy knows the real reason why the two of them are staying away from each other," he reported, brown eyes cold and sharp.

"So you expect me to believe that you still want to keep both informants alive and that you still want your filthy _prize_?" Natsuki demanded. The man nodded.

"Yes. And I think it would be best if we left Father out of this for a little longer. He is beginning to suspect, since _someone_ keeps contacting me despite her well-known hatred of my guts ever since a certain incident, but I can keep him in the dark, just as I can control my 'prize,'" he told her confidently. She eyed him warily.

"Still. If the boy is working with his cousin, he must be stopped," she said. The man opened his mouth to protest, and she held up a hand to stop him. "I will not kill the boy, only cripple his judgment and ability to conspire for a bit. And it will help me on another front, too, since what I'm planning will affect that horrid, frigid woman who's trying to steal Shizuo."

"She's not trying, sister. She's succeeding," the man pointed out. Natsuki snorted.

"Only because I'm not ready to move. I'll make sure that my message is clear when I act, and then she won't be so interested in getting involved with him."

"I personally think that if the fact that he's an inhuman monster didn't stop her from being interested in him, a little threat won't stop her," he commented evenly. Natsuki's eyes narrowed, and a dangerous light entered her eyes. The man just smiled. "Remember, if you lash out at me, you'll have to do this on your own, and you know very well that you can't keep them in the dark or distracted long enough to complete this on your own."

"Shut up, Akuro. Don't insult Shizuo, and just focus on handling your father and your prize, or I'll eliminate them and those informants you're so interested in," she threatened. The man's smile grew.

"Of course, sister. But he's your father, too, remember? Now if you'll excuse me…" He got up to leave.

"No he's not. Now get out." Natsuki rolled her eyes and watched him go, her attention already on how to carry out the plan fermenting in her rage-twisted and quietly out of control mind.

"Oh, one last thing," he said, pausing and glancing back at her. She frowned, only half listening.

"Hm?"

"It won't seem right. If any of them is watching this place, they'll wonder why I was here," he pointed out. Natsuki grimaced.

"Fine. Do whatever you think is necessary, but remember that I will be doing the same," she snapped, the now-ever-present fury in her gaze smoldering as he dares to interrupt her plotting. His expression was ice cold, though he tossed his head slightly to get his bangs out of his eyes as if he was unaware of her thinly veiled threat.

"Of course, sister." Then he turned on his heel and left. Natsuki glared after him.

"Close the door behind you, Akuro!" she snapped. He ignored her, just as he always did when she told him not to call Shizuo a monster. She scowled, then closed her eyes. They used to get along, she remembered. Until she fell in love with a man he despised.

_Who would have thought it would take that stupid technician's betrayal to drive me back to him?_ she mused. That was the only reason she had agreed to his terms; for all the damage Arlua had done, she had at least temporarily bridged the gap between Natsuki and Akuro.

"You're Malcolm Yuuki, right?" The emotionless boy looked up. He had just parted ways with Supai on their way home from school, and hadn't been expecting to hear his name again until he got home, where Tania would be waiting even though he never knew how she beat him home every day. She just did.

"Yeah. And you're Yatsuhiro Yamakawa. What can I do for you?" the bounty hunter asked.

"Nothing. I just have a warning. You're friends with Supai Orihara, aren't you? Let him – and your sister, the teacher – know that they should be on the lookout. One of the clients I was helping today told me that there's a rumor going around that someone isn't happy with the two of them. They could be in danger," Yatsuhiro told him.

"A client?" Malcolm repeated, seemingly unfazed by the news.

"Yeah. The client's sister heard about it. I'd tell you his name so you could check on it yourself, but he asked me not to; he tries to avoid that kind of thing," the owner of FanaTECH explained. The bounty hunter nodded.

"Thank you for the information," he said. "I'll pass it on to Tania and Supai." Yatsuhiro smiled.

"Good. Stay safe, okay, kid?"

"Of course." Malcolm nodded, and Yatsuhiro walked away, and the high schooler pulled out his cell phone to send a text to his friend and his sister.

'Careful. Something's up, someone's not happy with you for some reason. Keep an eye out.'


	11. Warning

**I'm sorry ahead of time. I really am.**

**Disclaimer: yeah, I should take better care of my OCs, since they're all I own.**

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: virus

So you know how to disable the virus? Excellent. I was beginning to wonder if you had purposefully made one that not even you could get rid of.

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: re: virus

Whoever creates the trouble is the one who can solve it. At least that's how it should be. SO of course I left a single weak point that I can exploit.

A block from the apartment he shared with his sister, barely two minutes after he had parted ways with Yatsuhiro and sent a text to Supai and Tania, Malcolm realized that the echoing of his footsteps was just a bit too much for the usual slight echo of the alleyways he often preferred to the regular streets. The boy paused and started to turn.

The footsteps that had been almost completely matching his own suddenly sped up, and something hit his arm as he whirled, nearly drawing a sound of pain from him. He caught a glimpse of dark hair and rage-lit eyes before his vision blurred.

The thing that had hit him was a dart.

The kind Tania used to deliver tranquilizers…or poison.

_I should really start paying more attention to my surroundings between jobs,_ Malcolm thought, his mind hazy as he lost his balance. The pavement was such a nice shade of gray as it rushed forward to embrace him. Or was it rushing up? He didn't know. He just knew that he was glad the pavement would catch him before he hit the ground. He didn't want to hit the ground; that would hurt.

The pavement would be softer, wouldn't it?

Maybe not. He felt the air rush from his lungs and felt the pavement's rough, scraping touch rush over his cheek as it caught him, and thought that the pavement should stop rushing. After all, what was the hurry? Everything else was moving in slow motion, so why was the pavement moving so quickly?

Wait. Pavement didn't move…did it? Darkness crept in as he tried to shake his head to clear it, but only succeeded in dragging his cheek across the roughness of the ground once more.

"There. Hand to hand combat doesn't do much good against ranged weapons, does it?" a harsh, hateful voice snarled. "This'll show them not to take what's mine, and not to get in the way of my work."

Tania frowned at the clock. Malcolm should have been home half an hour ago.

_Maybe he and Supai decided to run an errand,_ she thought, pulling out her cell phone to text Supai. Her frown deepened. There was a text from Malcolm, a group message.

'Careful. Something's up, someone's not happy with you for some reason. Keep an eye out.'

'More details needed.' Supai's reply showed on Tania's screen, and she realized that he must have enabled the group conversation mode for once. The teacher waited anxiously for her brother's reply. Five minutes. Ten minutes.

'Malcolm? You okay?' she typed. Fifteen minutes. He should have been home forty-five minutes ago. 'Supai, something's wrong. He's not home yet. I'm going to look for him.'

'Wait. If something's happened to him, you shouldn't be out alone. What if something happens to you? He'd never forgive me.'

'And I'll never forgive myself if something has happened to him,' she replied.

'Tania, be careful. At least call Shizuo so he can start heading toward you, okay? Or Arlua or someone. I'm headed over now,' Supai told her. She growled.

'Fine.'

Then she dialed Shizuo's number. Before she could hit the call button, though, her phone rang. She blinked and answered when she saw Shizuo's name on her screen.

"Ani?" Tania felt herself relax a little. Just hearing his voice over the phone helped distract her from the panic rising in her throat.

"Malcolm should've been home ages ago. Supai hasn't seen him. Will you come help me look for him?" she asked. There was a heavy silence on the other end of the line. "Shizuo?"

"Ani…Tania, I have some bad news," he said, voice low and dark. "I'm...I'm sorry. Tom and I were working in your neighborhood, and I heard something in an alley, went to check it out." Tania frowned. What did this have to do with Malcolm? Why wasn't he coming to help her look.

"Shizuo, what is it?" He made a soft, almost pained noise.

"I don't know how…" There was a shuffling noise, and then Tania heard the voice of Tom, the guy Shizuo worked with.

"Miss Yuuki, I don't know how to tell you this…you'd better come see for yourself. Go out of your building and take a left. Go down one block," he told her. She felt dread start to build in her, pooling in her chest and spreading down to her stomach, out to her limbs, up to her throat, forming a lump there that she tried to swallow.

"Tom…Tom, what happened?" she demanded hoarsely. "What am I going to find when I get there?"

"If you hurry and beat the emergency vehicles, Miss Yuuki…your brother." Then the line went dead, not because Tom had hung up on her, but because Tania had hit 'end' and was already halfway out the door.

_If I hurry? Emergency vehicles? What's happened to Malcolm?_

She ran outside and turned left…and froze. She could see flashing red lights and hear a siren in the distance, growing louder. Coming closer.

_No. No no no. _

She sprinted down the block. There. Shizuo was standing at the entrance to an alley, one of the alleys that Malcolm used on his way home. Her boyfriend's expression wasn't dark with rage, like she and half-expected. It was…sad. So infinitely sad that it made her heart ache through the panic.

"Shizuo!" she called as she got closer. He looked up, and she saw an unlit cigarette in his mouth, like he had been about to smoke and then just forgot it was there.

"Ani…" His voice was stricken. Tom appeared, stepping out of the mouth of the alley, just as the ambulance pulled up, followed an instant later by several police cars that she hadn't noticed in her rush to get to the alley.

"What happened? Where's Malcolm?" she demanded, She knew she should be quiet, wait for the situation to be explained. She knew she shouldn't be letting her emotions control her. But they were just too strong, and she didn't care what she should be doing. The two men exchanged heavy glances as they stepped aside, wordless, and Tania saw what was in the alley.

Malcolm.

He appeared to be slumped against the wall. Maybe he had been injured? But then she saw the horrifyingly limp way his head hung, and the gleam of reflected emergency lights from where what appeared to be large nails had been driven through the fabric of his shirt over his shoulders and beside him, pinning him to the wall.

He wasn't moving at all. He should have been able to tear his shirt and get off those nails. Except that he was so terribly, terribly limp. His eyes were open and unseeing. His body was relaxed in a way it hadn't been since he became a bounty hunter.

_NonononononononoNONONONONO!_

She was frozen. She couldn't move.

"Miss, please move out of the way," a paramedic urged. She stumbled sideways, nearly falling, and Shizuo caught her and pulled her against his chest. She clung to him, staring into the alley as the paramedics checked for a pulse that she already knew they wouldn't find.

She couldn't bear to watch as they took him down, and she couldn't bear to look at the pitying expression on Tom's face or the stricken look on Shizuo's. Her gaze fell on something she hadn't noticed before. Something had been written in black spray paint on the wall over her brother's head.

If you take what is mine, I will destroy what it yours.

If you interfere with my work, I will cripple yours.

Stay away from him, and don't interfere.


	12. Subtlety

**Disclaimer: I own only my OCs, and I should probably apologize again to the people who liked Malcolm. But don't worry, he will be avenged!**

Arlua opened her door and found Supai on her doorstep, his face reddened and slightly swollen. His eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles underneath them. The technician let him in without a word, and the boy went straight to her couch and collapsed onto it.

"You have to stop doing this to yourself," she told him quietly. He made a frustrated sound, full of anger and pain.

"I can't stop until I find it," he growled.

"The first time you came here, you were exhausted because you spent thirty-six hours at the hospital, trying to speed up the autopsy process. And then you only came here because it's closer to the hospital than your house is, and you didn't even sleep then," she sighed. "So what is it this time?"

"Results are in. They found an injection site but no trace of any foreign chemicals in his body. He supposedly asphyxiated without any detectable catalyst," the boy growled. "But people don't just _do_ that. They don't just asphyxiate randomly." Arlua sighed. She knew about wanting revenge; Natsuki's bizarre rage and her still-present threat were proof of the lengths grief and rage could drive people to. But she didn't think that going against the people who had killed Malcolm would help. Not the way Supai was doingn it, anyway.

"Tania and I discussed the situation earlier, after you left. We agreed that you're being too obvious. You're an information broker; you should know the value of subtlety," Arlua said quietly.

"There isn't time for subtlety," Supai snarled. "Malcolm was my _friend_. I know my cousin can pretend he doesn't care about people beyond his supposed love of humanity, but I can't just leave Malcolm unavenged. I can't."

"You don't have to. You just have to be smarter about it," the technician retorted. "You're acting like a hurt child, which is going to get you killed. The fact that Malcolm was murdered was bad enough, but who do you think that warning spray-painted over his head was for?" The boy looked up at her, horror in his gaze. "It was for you and Tania. Think about it; it's not a particularly challenging puzzle. The only people who would potentially be emotionally and mentally crippled by Malcolm's death are you and her. The only parts I haven't figured out are what you two did to irritate the responsible party, and who that responsible party might be." Her voice softened and she walked over to him. "Look, everyone's still in shock, and hurting. I know you want to act, but you need to calm down."

"Why do you care? You barely knew him. What right do you have to-" She cut him off with a glare.

"Tania was going to tell you herself, but you've been rejecting her calls, and you haven't replied to her texts. So she told me everything and asked me to let you know if I saw you before she did. Her _brother,_ your friend, is dead, and she wants to make sure that the one boy who was willing to befriend her emotionless brother, the boy who she taught to shoot, doesn't get himself killed," Arlua snapped. "You've been running around bullying hospital personnel and drawing attention to yourself. That's just going to get you killed for interfering." Supai fell silent.

"You think I don't know that? But the quickest way to find out who they are is to draw them out," he whispered after a moment. Arlua shook her head.

"The quickest way, maybe. But they used an _undetectable poison_. Because you're right, people don't asphyxiate randomly. They could have killed you instead of Malcolm just by injecting you with whatever they got him with," she pointed out.

"So I'm just supposed to sit here and do nothing?" he snarled.

"No. You're supposed to act smarter. Don't bully the hospital people. We'll get an inside man and have him check things out," Arlua said firmly. "And then we'll ask around more subtly." He started at her.

"So…you'll help?"

"Of course. You and Tania and Malcolm are – were in Malcolm's case, I guess – my friends. No one threatens my friends and gets away with it, and no one kills my friends and doesn't spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders, afraid of when I'll decide to strike." He voice was sharp, her eyes darker than usual. Supai nodded.

"Will Tania help, too?" he asked.

"Of course. She and Shizuo are going with me to persuade our 'inside man' to help, too," she added.

"Who's this 'inside man' you keep mentioning?" he inquired, a hint of curiosity making its way onto his face through the grief and frustration. Arlua bared her teeth.

"Why, the friendly neighborhood underground doctor, of course," she told him. "Shinra Kishitani should be able to figure out what poison was used, and maybe even provide some insight on who would use it."

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: search

You said before that you have a network of human contacts. You get information from them?

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: search

Yes. Why? Do you need to know something?

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: re: search

Yes. A kid I know was killed. I need any information you can give me on the poison he was killed with, and the people who use that poison.

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: re: re: search

Of course I'll help, Tek-chan. What poison, and who uses it?

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: re: re: re: search

I'll let you know when I find out. But finding the people will probably be something you need to do.

**Can you guess what poison was used or who killed Malcolm? If you can, let me know via PM or review, and if you're right, I'll write a oneshot on a prompt of your choice.**


	13. Poison

**Okay, two people guessed the correct killer, and one got the poison. The poison answer will be revealed in this chapter, but if you want to PM or review with your guess for the killer, feel free, because that won't be revealed in this chapter. **

**Prize fics will be posted as soon as I get a chance to type them.**

**Disclaimer: my OCs are STILL all I own, unfortunately.**

Arlua scowled at the door to the apartment Celty and Shinra shared, then knocked briskly, only to get the same response as the last two times she had knocked.

"We're not home now, so please go away!" Shinra's voice informed her.

"Yes you are, or you wouldn't be telling me that you're not home!" she snapped. "Now open this door so we can talk to you face to face!"

"No!"

"Shinra Kishitani, if you don't open this door right now, I will have Tania Yuuki here shoot the lock off, and Shi will kick the door in, and we'll come in uninvited!" the technician threatened. "And before you say it, I don't care that you're busy and hardly get a day off to spend with Celty! This is more important!" There was a pause.

"Come back tomorrow. Or in a few hours," Shinra's voice advised. Arlua growled, then glanced over her shoulder at her companions. Tania, her eyes red and her face slightly splotchy, was leaning against Shizuo, who had his arms around her, supporting her. Briefly, the technician wondered if the blond realized that his hand was moving a little, making soothing circles on his girlfriend's shoulder blade. Then she glanced up at SHizuo's face, noting his increasing frustration.

_He's really going to destroy that door in a minute,_ Arlua realized. _Okay, bullying didn't work. Maybe bribery will. _She tried to stay away from the thought that with Shinra, bribery probably should've been the first thing she tried.

"Hey, Shinra," she called, forcing a light tone into her words. "Wanna dissect something and show you're smarter than regular hospital doctors?" There was a longer pause, and Arlua imagined Celty and Shinra having a half-silent, half-whispered conversation on the other side of the door.

"What would I be dissecting?" Shinra's voice inquired.

"A body, about forty-eight hours dead. Supposedly randomly asphyxiated with no trace of a catalyst of any kind. One injection site noted," she told him, smirking slightly. The door opened, and Shinra stepped out.

"Where?"

"Raira General Hospital," the technician told him.

"Name?"

"Malcolm Yuuki. He was a bounty hunter," she added. "Worked with Supai Orihara."

"All right. Tell me everything on the way," he ordered. Arlua nodded and waved to Celty, who was standing behind the underground doctor, helmet on and shaking from side to side at Shinra's response to the mention of dissection.

"You coming, Celty?" Shizuo asked. The Dullahan typed briskly on her PDA, then held it out so he could read it.

'I'm going to stay here and watch recorded shows.' Arlua hesitated, glancing at Tania, who was struggling to keep her composure.

"Shi, Tania, you two want to stay here? I'll take Shinra over and see what he finds out," the technician offered. Tania bit her lip – an above-average show of her indecision.

"I don't know…" she whispered. Shizuo tightened his arms around her slightly.

"Let's stay here," he murmured. "It'll only upset you to go back to the hospital, and maybe Celty's shows will help take your mind off of things," he added, glancing at Celty for permission. The headless woman nodded her helmet, and Arlua smiled a little.

"Thanks," she said. Celty made a dismissive motion with her hand, then went to introduce herself to Tania and usher the couple inside while Arlua and Shinra set off, discussing the situation in lowered voices.

'I'm Celty. You're…Tania Yuuki?' The teacher nodded and took a shaky breath, then let Shizuo and Celty usher her inside.

When Shinra emerged from the autopsy room, there was a thoughtful look in his eyes as he walked over to Arlua.

"You said his sister noticed he was missing and reached the alley within forty-five minutes to an hour of his death, and his friend didn't notice anything wrong before that, right?" the doctor confirmed. Arlua nodded. "Well, if it weren't for that, I would say it was a certain organic poison, but that takes two to six hours in large doses, so…"

"Could it have been a specialized form? Concentrated or something?" she asked. He tilted his head.

"In theory, concentrating it would make it more potent, yes, but not this potent. Unless…" The thoughtful expression grew.

"Unless what?" the technician prompted. Shinra frowned.

"I think Izaya mentioned a group that used this particular poison, but an altered form of it, so it worked almost instantly, instead of causing a prolonged death," he murmured, half to her and half to himself, not noticing the way Arlua tensed when he said Izaya's name.

"I can't contact Izaya," she reminded the doctor sharply. He nodded absently.

"I know. Maybe that kid you mentioned, his cousin, would be able to get a hold of him. He might even know about it himself," Shinra pointed out. Arlua nodded, though she had no intention of setting Supai on this lead, not when Kura-kun had agreed to look into whatever information she gave him.

"What exactly is the poison you would say it was?" she questioned.

"Aconite. Also known as Wolfsbane," he answered quietly.

"I'll see what I can find out. Thanks, Shinra," she added. He smiled.

"No problem. I haven't gotten to dissect anything in a long time," he explained. "Are you coming back to my apartment to pick up Shizuo and that girl he was with?"

"Actually, I'm meeting my boss for dinner," she told him. "Shi texted me a while ago and said they were ordering food." At Shinra's blank look, she laughed. "You were in there for two and a half hours, Shinra. It's supper time."

"Oh." His expression was sheepish. "I lost track of time."

"I figured. Celty says don't worry about it, by the way," she added. He seemed relieved. "Well, I better go, or I'll be late." She started to turn away.

"Hey, Arlua." The technician paused at the unexpectedly serious tone in his voice. "Be careful, okay? People who would poison a kid like that wouldn't hesitate to get rid of you and anyone else who's poking around."

"I know. Don't worry, we're being careful," she assured him.

"Be more careful. And one more thing. How serious are you about your boss? I heard that you two have been going out to eat a lot and doing other non-work-related public activities," he said quietly. She frowned.

"You're turning into the germ, Shinra. But I'll answer the question anyway. Yamakawa may or may not be interested in me. I haven't decided if I'm interested in him or not." The doctor nodded.

"Maybe you should talk to someone about him, and why you haven't decided," he suggested tentatively. Arlua rolled her eyes.

"Maybe you should get a life," she retorted before walking away, ignoring his spluttered protests that he had a life – a wonderful life with Celty! The technician waved and pulled out her phone. She had emails to send.

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: poison

A doctor I know said he would suspect aconite poisoning, but the time frame is too short. He said that he had heard about a group using an altered form of aconite, one that worked much more quickly than even large, concentrated doses would. Can you help?

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: poison

Aconite, huh? Interesting. I've heard something similar to that. Let me do some research and get back to you.


	14. Connections

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Well, I mean, I own my OCs, but how much does that really count in the grand scheme of the Durarara fandom?**

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: any updates?

I know it hasn't been long, but have you found out anything?

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: any updates?

Not yet. I have a lead, but it may take me a day or two to get any solid information.

Izaya frowned at the files he had pulled up on his computer. Then he turned his attention to the printout in his hand. He saw the obvious connection, but he didn't see the reasoning behind it.

When he had first read Arlua's email and seen her report on what the doctor had said. He figured the 'doctor' was Shinra, but he couldn't be sure. Still, it was likely enough that he would work with that assumption and trust the information. After all, how many doctors did the technician know personally?

The problem was, he had found the file, and…there was one group – a family, really – known to use an altered form of aconite, and the last head of the family had supposedly gone bankrupt without an heir. The Nakaos had been gone for fifteen years…so why was their favorite kill method cropping up again? Had they sold the compound?

_No. Suhoga Nakao was too proud to sell the formula, even to save his own reputation,_ he thought. Then he remembered. _They tried to make a comeback six years ago…how…_ The information broker scrolled through the information on his screen. _There. Employed a hacker, tried to use him to get more money…_

Izaya paled. _Oh…so that's the connection._ Besides the fact that the Nakaos were supposedly gone, he hadn't been able to figure out why they would target Malcolm, or where he had heard the name recently.

"Suhoga Nakao and his twenty-year-old son, Akuro, barely escaped criminal charges after an anonymous tip from a rival family led authorities to their base of operations. They were able to avoid being charged because most of the evidence was focused on the hacker they hired. Suhoga and Akuro both vanished," he read out loud. "But that doesn't tell me what the connection to that kid might be," he muttered. Then he saw the name of the hacker. Daiki Homeron. "Oh."

Daiki Homeron…Natsuki Homeron's father.

_Is this about me betraying them?_ he wondered, looking through the file again, then going back to the folder it was stored in and eyeing the related files.

There. Natsuki's file. He opened the document and scanned it quickly. There was a note at the beginning, explaining who her father was and why he had a file on her.

_Father killed in a police raid that escalated to violence…then she vanished…the same day as the Nakaos…_

Izaya's eyes widened.

_What if Natsuki was taken in by them? That would explain it…given the message found with Malcolm's body, he was killed to get at Supai and Yuuki,_ he mused, remembering what his disreputable cousin had told him in a text message the day before. _So Homeron is the connection, whether one of them or a lackey killed Malcolm or whether Homeron did it herself._

_But that still doesn't tell me where I've heard the name recently. _

He felt his frown deepen and sighed, then sat back and ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.

Where had he heard that name?

"_Ever heard of the Nakao family?"_

The paper Supai had given him. he hadn't heard the name, he had seen it.

The true last name of Karito and Yatsuhiro Yamakawa.

Arlua's boss was Akuro Nakao, who had ties to Homeron…who was more than likely the link between the Nakaos and Malcolm's death.

Arlua left the hospital and walked toward the place she was supposed to meet Yamakawa.

"Teki!" a familiar voice called. She looked up and smiled slightly.

"Hey, Kadota. I'd stop to chat, but I'm running late," she said. He smiled back, expression showing sympathy.

"All right. Mind if I walk with you? I'm worried about you," he explained. "And Shizuo told me you'd be here, so I came to check on you." Arlua nodded.

"That's sweet of you," she observed. He shrugged.

"I heard about what happened. I don't really know the kid, or his friend or sister, but I know you're friends with the sister, and Shizuo of course," he added. The technician sighed.

"Yeah. Tania's not doing so well. She's trying to keep it together to get to the bottom of what happened, but things aren't moving as fast as she'd like, and she isn't as good at hiding her emotions when Shi's around. So her grief is a more obvious than it would usually be," she replied. "Supai, well…he's handling it even more poorly."

"Understandable," Kadota murmured. "Have you tried using an informant to speed things up?"

"Supai's in no condition to gather information," she told him.

"What about…Izaya?"

"I can't go to him," Arlua reminded him. "And you know why." The man grimaced.

"Yeah, I do. So what're you going to do?" he asked.

"I have a…well, a pen pal of sorts. He has a network of contacts, and he's working on getting me the information I need," she answered. "Kura-kun says he's got a lead, but it might take him a day or two to get everything in order."

"Kura-kun?" he repeated. Before she could explain, she spotted Yamakawa coming toward them, smiling. She waved, and Kadota looked up and blinked.

"That's…no, wait," he muttered.

"I know, he looks like Izaya," she said with a grin. "You met him before, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. Yamakawa, right?" She nodded as her boss reached them.

"Hey. I'm not that late, am I?" she questioned. Yamakawa shook his head, expression open and friendly.

"Of course not. I was just early, so I thought I'd walk this way and meet you early," he explained, nodding to Kadota. Arlua nodded her understanding and turned to her friend.

"Thanks for coming to check on me. It means a lot," she said, hugging him tightly. The brown-haired man blinked, surprised, then hugged back briefly before stepping back as she loosened her hold on him.

"Eating with your boss again?" When she nodded, Kadota added, "Have fun, Teki." Then he waved and walked away.

"Bye, Kadota!" she called after him before turning to Yamakawa, who had an odd look on his face. "You okay?"

"Arlua…since we're pretty much dating now, I'm not sure I feel comfortable with you being alone with other men," he said quietly.


	15. Meetings

**Disclaimer: my OCs are mine, and their craziness is mine, and nothing else is mine.**

Izaya typed furiously on his phone as he waited, keeping up his email conversation with the technician. He was waiting outside the home of the last person he wanted to talk to, the person who had made it necessary for him to avoid Arlua.

As long as the technician was replying, he knew Homeron and the Nakaos hadn't done anything to her.

He had left his office as soon as he realized her boss was one of them.

Her boss, whom Supai claimed was practically her boyfriend now. He had buried his initial reaction to that statement, but now he allowed himself a scowl.

He wanted to introduce Yatsuhiro Yamakawa – Akuro Nakao – to his switchblade. He wanted to run to Arlua and bring her back to Shinjuku and not let her anywhere near the Nakaos or anyone who was connected to them at all.

But the threat to both their lives kept him from doing that.

Arlua blinked, processing what her boss and unofficial boyfriend had just said.

"What?"

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that, well…" he looked away as though nervous or upset. Or maybe…ashamed? "I try not to be jealous, but I can't help it. I don't like the idea of other men being alone with you." Arlua frowned.

"But we weren't alone. We were in public, and even if we were alone, Kadota's just a good friend. Or maybe more of a brother. And Shizuo's my best friend, has been for years, and he's dating Tania," she pointed out.

"Still…" Yamakawa murmured. "Please, could you at least try to understand where I'm coming from?" Arlua sighed.

"I do understand. Really. But I need you to understand that most of my friends are men, and I don't want to lose them," she replied.

"I know. You don't have to stop being friends with them…I just wanted you to know that I don't like you being alone with them," he repeated, meeting her gaze steadily. She sighed again, then tilted her head when her phone buzzed.

"All right." The technician pulled out her phone and frowned.

"What is it?" Yamakawa asked. Arlua shook her head.

"Email. A friend of mine's been looking into something for me," she answered. "Looks like he found something. This'll just take a second." She scanned the email quickly.

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: warning

Tek-chan, I found the people who use that poison. They're called the Nakao family, and it's their trademark. Someone either connected to them or a part of their family must have and issue with the people who would be affected by Malcolm Yuuki's death – that is the deceased party, isn't it?

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: warning

You mean like his sister and his best friend? Those are the only two people I can think of, but I can't think of who Tania and Supai could have both irritated.

"Who's your friend?" Yamakawa asked, shifting his position so he was behind her, nearly pressing against her back to look over her shoulder.

"My pen pal, I guess. Since the two information brokers I know can't help me with this, I asked him since he has a nice contact network," she explained.

"Why couldn't the informants help you?" he questioned.

"Because one is avoiding me and one is in no shape to investigate anything without getting himself killed," she sighed.

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: re: warning

Remember that rather interesting client you handled? I mentioned him when we first started emailing.

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: re: re: warning

Yeah, but I haven't had any contact with him since well before that. Why?

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: re: re:

He would be better equipped to help you. He's had experience with the Nakao family.

Arlua closed her eyes for a moment.

"Who is this person?" Yamakawa asked, an edge to his tone that the technician almost didn't catch.

"No one," she said firmly. "At least, no one who matters." Then she put her phone back in her pocket. "Sorry about that. Shall we go now?" She turned to face him and found him standing closer than she had realized. The technician looked up at him, surprised, and he lifted a hand to her cheek for a moment before gently tilting her face upward even as he leaned down.

_He's going to kiss me,_ she realized. _Someone who isn't Izaya Orihara is going to kiss me._ She should have been excited; she needed to move on, didn't she? She was trying to forget him. But all she felt was anxiety and something akin to dread. Then his lips met hers, soft and gentle, nervous.

Not confident and smirking. Not Izaya.

Arlua pulled away and turned her back.

"Arlua?" Yamakawa's voice was tentative. "I'm sorry, I should've asked first, I-"

"No, it's fine. It's not you. You're not the problem," she assured him.

_Except it is you. You are the problem, because you're not him, and even working for you and being around or with you, I can't forget about him._

_Damn that germ for vanishing like that, and damn Natsuki for threatening us._

"Izaya Orihara, Miss Homeron will see you now," an unfamiliar voice informed him. Izaya glanced up appraisingly at the man who had approached him. He appeared to be a standard lackey-for hire, with a short, military haircut and build, and the light ease of movement of a trained fighter. Or a trained killer.

"I wasn't aware I had an appointment," the informant said calmly. The man laughed, a sharp, humorless sound that made Izaya wary. No one should laugh like that when facing one of the most dangerous men in the city.

"You don't. But she's tired of paying us to watch you when you're sitting outside her house, so she said to bring you in to talk to her," he explained. "That's what you're here for, right?" When Izaya nodded reluctantly, the man snorted.

"You should've just left town and forgotten about that technician. If she can't be controlled, she'll be killed whether you have contact with her or not," the man said confidently. "Now come on; it's unwise to keep Miss Homeron waiting."


	16. Natsuki's Victory

Natsuki Homeron surveyed the man who sat in the spare chair in front of her desk as if he were an insect buzzing too close to her.

"Izaya Orihara, what are you doing in my office?" she demanded, masking her hatred as best she could. "I should have you killed right now and save myself the trouble of keeping track of you."

"Ah, Homeron, I've missed your unconcealable venom and spite," he muttered. She scowled, her rage building just from the sound of his voice. She started to get to her feet, and he quickly held his hands up defensively. "I just came to talk to you. I found out some information about you and what happened after your father's death. I could link you and your adopted family to the murder of Malcolm Yuuki in an instant," he informed her calmly. She clenched her teeth.

"You dare to threaten me?" she snarled. Still, she seemed to reign in her anger a bit and settled back into her seat.

"I'm not threatening you, I'm informing you. Force of habit, considering my profession," he replied, forcing his voice to stay light and unconcerned despite the fact that the man who had escorted him into Homeron's home office was leaning against the doorframe, blocking his escape.

"Then what are you doing?" she spat, glaring at him. The information broker sighed.

"Look. I figured out who Arlua's boss really is, and I want her away from him and back to working for me. What would have to happen for me to convince you that Arlua and I are not plotting against you so you'll leave the two of us alone?" he asked, making his tone weary, almost desperate. The woman behind the desk appeared to consider his question for a long moment.

"Give me Shizuo. Get rid of that bitch he's dating. When Shizuo falls in love with me – I know he will, with that idiot Yuuki woman out of the way – then I will allow you and Arlua to see each other again for as long as you don't bother Shizuo. Until then, if you try to contact her or warn her that her new little teacher friend is going to die, I'll kill her first, then you, then the teacher, then your irritating little cousin who snoops around where he's not wanted," she informed him, her fury abating. "The same goes for if there is any sign that he will never leave her – for example if they announce a pregnancy or engagement or something along those lines. Of course, if you kill the bitch within the next twenty-four hours, I'll discontinue the surveillance on you and Arlua once I have Shizuo."

"So all this fury is about getting Shizu-chan?" Izaya tilted his head.

"No. It's about getting him and getting revenge. You took away the thing I cared about most: my father. So now you're going to give me what I want most, and then you're going to leave your enemy in peace. You're going to give up. That's what this is about," she snapped. He sighed.

"All right. Kill Tania, leave Shizu-chan alone, and Arlua and I will be safe?" he confirmed, staring at the floor as if resigned. Homeron nodded sharply.

"Yes. So we have an agreement?" she replied. He nodded, keeping his head down.

"May I go now?" he asked. He didn't need to look up to know that she was smirking. She believed him beaten, and that was the sweetest revenge she could possibly ask for – him coming to her and taking the offer she gave him with no protest, and very little that could be taken as mockery. In her mind, she had humbled the most dangerous man in the city, and she was practically preening from her victory.

"Of course," she agreed, smirk growing as he stood, eyes still averted, and turned toward the door.

It wasn't until he was halfway to Ikebukuro, positive that all of her watchers were behind him, unable to see his expression, that he let his distaste show.

_Of all the humans I have ever met, that one is my least favorite. Maybe she doesn't even count as human, since she's clearly so unstable that she acts on instinct like a mere animal,_ he thought. _She lets her fury control her, rather like Shizu-chan._

_Now, to figure out how to turn this to my advantage. _

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: hello?

Tek-chan, did you consider what I said in my last email?

Arlua didn't know how to be near Yamakawa after he kissed her, so she made some excuse – she dimly remembered spouting some nonsense about feeling sick – and bolted.

She didn't want to go back to her apartment – if she was alone then she would have to reply to Kura-kun's email, and she didn't even want to think about Izaya Orihara right now, let alone the threat that kept her from meeting with him to get information about the people who killed Malcolm.

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: please

I have new information. The Nakaos are closely associated with a certain person you sued to know very well, a person who wants you and several people around you dead. However, I believe that interesting client of yours may be trying to negotiate with them.

Please respond, so I know how to proceed. Depending on what the Nakaos' demands are, would you be willing to allow them to be met?

Arlua finally checked her email once she had gotten herself completely lost, running and walking down streets she didn't recognize until she felt as if she had put enough distance between herself and Yamakawa and Izaya's memory that she could think clearly.

_Attenuation. I've gotten enough attenuation, and the signal has been lost altogether,_ she realized as she scanned the messages from Kura-kun. Her eyes narrowed when she read the last two lines.

To: Nakura23

From: Lu_Chan

Subject: re: please

Never. I will never give them what they want, not after seeing how crushed Tania and Supai are over Malcolm's death. I will not appease them, I will bring them down.

If Orihara wants to make nice, then let him. It just means he's not as strong as I thought he was. But it doesn't matter, because I'm done hoping that he'll show up again, and I don't care if he does have experience with the Nakaos. He vanished and now I'll handle my problems on my own.

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: re: re: please

Very well. I will see what I can do. If I find any weakness, I will let you know.

Across town, Shizuo Heiwajima watched his girlfriend, Tania Yuuki, who was curled up against his side, sleeping fitfully. He sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small black box.

He knew the timing was awful because of her brother's death; she had been too upset to hold a large funeral for him, instead not even allowing Shizuo or Arlua to come. It has been Tania and Supai there when the body was cremated, and both of them had taken a small urn of the ashes to their own apartment.

He had been waiting for her, and had held her while she cried herself to sleep on the couch.

He wondered what her answer would be if he asked her when she woke up.

He wondered if he should risk asking, risk making her feel worse.

He wondered if he could afford to wait.


	17. Shizuo's Question

**I'm sorry, this chapter is really short, but if I continue, I won't have time to finish, and since I didn't update yesterday, well…**

**Also, I have a poll posted on my profile. I need a title for the next installment of Arlua & Co.'s adventures. Please go vote!**

**Anyway, here we go!**

**Disclaimer: I forgot to do this last chapter, but here it is. I own only my OCs, and not DRRR! or any associated characters.**

Shizuo sighed and looked across the room, to the shelf where Tania had left the small urn containing Malcolm's ashes.

_I don't know how she would react if I asked her,_ he thought. _And I really don't know how Malcolm would react if he were alive. Would he approve? If he were alive, would I hesitate to ask her?_

_It doesn't matter,_ he decided. _What would have happened if Malcolm hadn't been killed doesn't matter. What matters is here and now. What matters is her._ He looked down at the woman leaning against him, her eyes closed and her breath deep and even. She was completely relaxed for the first time since Malcolm's death, and he was glad he had been able to help her.

_Maybe that's the answer. How she reacts isn't what I should be worried about. I should be worried about what will help her. _

_She's the most important person in my life. I want to take care of her. So even if she says no, I'll do whatever I can to protect her and make her happy._

That was all he really needed to know, he realized. He didn't need to know ahead of time if she would say yes. He just needed to know that no matter how she answered, it wouldn't change his determination to help her, wouldn't change the fact that he loved her.

Tania woke up slowly for once, enjoying an unfamiliar, barely audible rhythm as she floated toward awareness instead of becoming conscious in an instant like she usually did.

_I wonder why that is,_ she thought sleepily. _Why I feel so…relaxed. I'm never relaxed. _Even that thought was slow, almost lazy. _What's different?_

Then the object she was laying on shifted, and she realized that the rhythm she was hearing was the sound of someone else breathing.

_Shizuo._ She smiled slightly and lifted her head as her eyes fluttered open.

"Good morning," he murmured.

"Morning," she mumbled sleepily. He brushed her hair away from her face, studying her carefully.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. She considered for a moment.

"I'd say I'm okay, but that would be a lie," she admitted. "But I'm feeling better. Thank you for staying with me." He leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"My pleasure," he replied. She smiled and sat up, then scooted closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. His arms wrapped around her tightly, and he took a deep breath. She tilted her head, trying to see his face.

"Is there something wrong?" she wanted to know. He shook his head.

"Not at all, Ani." He hesitated, then nodded to himself, renewing the determination he had found before she woke up. He released her and gently stood up, and she frowned as she shifted so she was sitting upright once more. "Tania…" he began. "I know we haven't been together for long, and I know this is horrible timing. But you're one of the few people who sincerely accepts me and refuses to see me as a monster. Of those people, you're the only one who can calm me down. You reach out to me even when my friends are just waiting for the storm to pass, and you affect me like no one else." Her eyes widened with each word that came out of his mouth, until they wouldn't open any farther, and her mouth started to open instead, so she was gaping at him when he took her hand and gently pulled her to her feet. Then he pulled a small black box from his pocket and opened it, revealing the simple, elegant diamond ring inside as he went down on one knee. "I love you, Tania Yuuki. Will you marry me?"

She was staring at him, still wide-eyed, her mouth opening and closing as she started to reply, then paused, then started again. She took in his position and the words he had just spoken, and her cheeks flushed scarlet. Unable to form the right words, she stood there for a long moment. Shizuo watched her anxiously, waiting for her reply. She glanced over at the urn, and her eyes watered as she turned back to the man kneeling before her.

"I love you, too, Zuo. Of course I'll marry you," she rasped. He grinned and stood, pulling her against him and kissing her thoroughly. Her fingers tangled in his hair as she returned the kiss. After several long moments, he pulled back just enough to slide the ring onto her left hand.

He was leaning down to kiss her again when they heard someone knock on the door. Tania frowned, and Shizuo sniffed the air, nose wrinkling.

"That had better not be who I think it is," he growled and Tania went to open the door. A moment later he heard her irritated reply.

"It is," she muttered. Then she turned to their visitor. "What do you want, flea?"

Izaya opened his mouth to reply, trademark smirk in place, then froze when his gaze landed on the ring glittering on her left hand.

"Shit."


	18. Crisis

**Disclaimer: I am a lazy authoress who doesn't update as often as I could, but I own my OCs anyway. Everything else isn't mine. **

"What are you doing here, you damn flea?" Shizuo snarled. Izaya barely noticed his enemy's rage, just closed his eyes and continued to swear under his breath for a moment. Tania frowned. It wasn't like the irritating informant to ignore an angry Shizuo.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, suppressing her own anger and resting a calming hand on her boyfriend's – except he was her fiancé now, she realized with a sudden rush of happiness – arm. Izaya nodded jerkily and stepped past her into the apartment. He closed the door behind himself, then strode to the window and scanned the street outside briefly before pulling the curtain shut.

"Hey! You can't just skip in here like you own the place, damn it!" Shizuo snapped. Tania found herself sorely tempted to agree with him, to take her hand off his arm and let him throw the information broker out the window he had just covered. But she managed to hold back the impulse and instead moved her hand gently up and down his arm, trying to calm and distract him.

"What are you two thinking?" Izaya hissed, completely ignoring Shizuo's outburst and turning to glare at them, trademark smirk nowhere in sight. "Getting engaged now? Don't you know what will happen if _she_ finds out?" The bodyguard bristled. He didn't know what Izaya was babbling about, and he didn't care. He just wanted to crush the little flea.

"That's none of your business!" Shizuo growled. He would have charged his nemesis right then and there, but Tania's hand on his arm kept him from doing it.

"Actually, it is," Izaya snapped, "considering Arlua and I will be killed right along with your heartless little girlfriend there if Homeron finds out!" The blond saw red.

"Tania is not heartless, you-"

"Zuo." Tania's voice cut through his fury. "Shizuo, I think we should hear him out," she said softly. Izaya blinked, momentarily surprised at her words. Then he shook his head as if to clear it and grimaced.

"I doubt the protozoan's brain will be able to comprehend what I'm saying," he began, trying to ground himself in his typical attitude.

"Cut the crap, flea," Tania ordered. "Just tell us what's going on." Izaya shot her a glare, then sighed.

"Whatever. Look, how much do you two know about what happened with Natsuki Homeron a few weeks ago?" he asked. Tania and Shizuo exchanged uncertain glances.

"You mean when Arlua saved your sorry ass and you repaid her by pulling a damn disappearing act?" Shizuo snapped. Izaya rolled his eyes.

"I have my reasons for staying away from her, but sure, if that's how your underdeveloped brain wants to interpret that, then sure," the information broker replied with a hint of his usual smirk.

"Shut up and keep explaining," Tania told him briskly. Izaya rolled his eyes at her, then continued.

"Well, Homeron didn't take Lu-chan's 'betrayal' very well, and told me – I assume she told Lu-chan, too – that she believed the two of us were conspiring against her and if we contacted each other in any way, we would both be killed," he informed them. Tania paled.

"Then…the emails she's been receiving…"

"Relax, I'm not stupid. She doesn't know it's me, and no one else does, either – well, my disreputable cousin does, but he's irrelevant to pretty much everything, so it doesn't matter," he replied. "Now, the simplified version is, Homeron is crazy, and she's obsessed with dear Shizu-chan, and she told me about two hours ago that if you two announced an engagement or a pregnancy, she would consider Shizu-chan a lost cause and kill everyone but him – starting with Lu-chan and ending with my disreputable cousin. So long story short, protozoan, by proposing to Miss Yuuki you have signed her death warrant, as well as mine – though I'm sure you're happy about that – and Arlua's and Supai's," he finished. Tania and Shizuo stared at him for a long moment, absorbing his words.

"Natsuki…she really said that?" Shizuo whispered. "But…she's always been just a friend."

"That seems to be something she thinks she can fix with a certain teacher out of the way," Izaya replied harshly. "Now, you can't let her find out that you two are engaged, and you can't go around wearing that ring," he told them, addressing Tania for the most part. "She'll kill Lu-chan and then work her way down her list of people she doesn't like."

"Wait a second…" Tania whispered. "If she wants Shizuo…and Supai knows information about you that she might want – namely, that you're emailing Arlua when you're not supposed to have any contact…then…" Izaya nodded.

"You see it, too. Lovely," he said.

"See what?" Shizuo demanded.

"Natsuki Homeron killed Malcolm," Tania whispered, expression hardening.

"What?" Shizuo's eyes widened.

"She may have ordered someone to kill him, or she may have killed him personally. Either way, she used her contacts with the Nakao family to get a rare altered form of aconite, which Shinra identified as the cause of death," Izaya told her. "I don't know if there's enough evidence to get rid of her, but we have a more immediate problem."

"You mean the whole issue of her killing me for being engaged to Shizuo?" Tania sighed. "Look, I've had threats on my life before; comes with having Malcolm for a brother. Or it did." She shook her head to clear it of the now-virtually-constant grief that threatened to flare.

"This is different. Malcolm could defend himself, too. _You can't fight a poison that kills in minutes,_" Izaya insisted. "You two need to keep your happy announcement to yourselves. Oh, and you're welcome," he added with a touch of his usual smirk.

"For what?"

"Warning you. And not killing you like Homeron wanted me to do. See, she offered me a deal: I can be around Lu-chan again if I kill you in the next, oh, twenty-two hours," he told her. Shizuo snarled and stepped between his enemy and his fiancé.

"Try it and die, flea," he spat. Izaya gave him a pitying look.

"If you had been paying attention, Shizu-chan, you would have heard me say that I'm _not_ going to kill her," he said snidely.

"Shut up, flea," Shizuo growled. Izaya smirked, a mere shadow of his typical expression, but it was a smirk nonetheless.

"This is really your fault, Shizu-chan. Since you're apparently the exact type to attract homicidal women who will kill to make you theirs," he laughed. He was about to continue when a faint sound made him pause. Shizuo opened his mouth to shout his objection, but Izaya hissed, and Tania tilted her head. She'd heard it, too: soft, rapid footsteps running away from the apartment door. Izaya swore and darted over to wrench the door open.

He only caught a brief glimpse of the man who was fleeing the scene, and an even briefer glimpse of the man's phone as it was pulled out of his pocket and raised to his ear.

Still, the information broker recognized the man's back and the intent behind the call he was in the process of making.

It was the man who had escorted him into Homeron's house. He had been eavesdropping, and was probably calling his boss right now.

Izaya drew several throwing knives from his pocket and darted after the man. He launched them, one after the other, trying to bring the man down.

As if anticipating his strikes, the man ducked and wove from side to side as he ran. The informant launched three of his knives. He missed the first time, hit the man's shoulder – not the one corresponding to the hand holding his cell phone, unfortunately – the second time, and grazed his other arm – the cell phone one – the third time. Then the man rounded a corner, and Izaya knew that his target would reach the street before he could catch up, would inform Homeron of everything he had heard before he could be stopped.

"Flea!" Tania's voice called.

"I don't know how much he heard, and I can't risk waiting to find out!" Izaya replied. "Go find my disreputable cousin, then head for Shinra's. Lu-chan and I will meet you there, and we'll decide what to do next." Before she could reply, he was off and running, typing out an email as he went.

To: Lu_Chan

From: Nakura23

Subject: emergency!

Tek-chan, please go to the home of the doctor you consulted about the poison – I assume he's trustworthy if you went to him for that. Hurry. You are in danger.

She didn't reply. He realized that he didn't know where she was and stopped in his tracks.

"Damn it." He changed course, heading for Shinra's house. Hopefully he could find her on the way and protect her. But just in case…he sent a text as he slowed down to round a corner.

'Transporter, find Arlua immediately and keep her safe. No questions, just do it. I'll explain later.'


	19. Shots Fired

**Disclaimer: I own my OCs, and my cliffhangers (which apparently are doing their job in extending suspense and whatnot) and my awesome new Izaya jacket, but that's it.**

Tania frowned into space for a moment after Izaya tore off, then sighed and texted Supai.

'Something's happening. You, Izaya, Arlua, and I are in danger. Same people who killed Malcolm. Head for Shinra's. I know you know where he lives. That's the meeting place.'

"Ani?" Shizuo questioned as she checked her handgun and the spare clip she kept in her purse.

"You heard the flea. We're going to Shinra's. There's safety in numbers, and this Homeron person may not think to look there," she explained. Her fiancé grimaced.

"As much as I hate to cooperate with that damn flea…" he sighed.

"I know. But we don't have a choice," she said. "Let's go."

Arlua kept wandering until she realized that she was once more in an area she knew. She looked off to her left.

_Tania lives in that direction,_ she thought. She almost went to see her friend, but she couldn't stand the thought of facing her, not when she knew Malcolm's funeral had been that morning. She remembered the declaration she had made in her last email to Kura-kun earlier.

_I will never give them what they want, not after seeing how crushed Tania and Supai are over Malcolm's death. I will not appease them, I will bring them down._

Of course, that was only part of what she'd said.

_If Orihara wants to make nice, then let him. It just means he's not as strong as I thought he was. But it doesn't matter, because I'm done hoping that he'll show up again, and I don't care if he does have experience with the Nakaos. He vanished and now I'll handle my problems on my own._

Izaya ran through the streets, mind whirling. Every person he passed could be one of Homeron's minions. Every woman with brown hair and blue-green eyes could be the person he was trying to reach, the person he was trying to protect.

Even if she might not want his protection. After all…she had said she was done hoping that he would show up again.

_She's given up on me. I expected her to hang on forever, to see getting back in touch as a challenge to be overcome. Maybe she just decided to play it safe and stay away._

A glimpse of brown hair had him skidding to a stop.

There. Arlua was standing at the intersection a block away. Izaya scanned the area and noticed at least four people who seemed to be watching his progress. Were they merely curious, or were they working for Homeron? Would they shoot him dead if he got any closer to Arlua?

Surely they would try, although his confidence in his own agility made him doubt that they would hit him. Still, they might choose to target Arlua instead, since Homeron had clearly stated that if things didn't go her way, Arlua would be the first to die.

Arlua glanced toward Tania's apartment one last time. She thought she saw a familiar fur-lined jacket in that direction, but forced herself not to look a second time to see if she was right, in case she was. If it was Yamakawa, she didn't want to see him. If it was Izaya, there was no point, since he would pretend she didn't exist.

She turned away from Tania's apartment and realized that Shinra's apartment wasn't too far away.

_If I can get there…_

Her phone buzzed. She pulled it out and sighed. There wasn't a very strong Internet connection, so she hadn't gotten the email until that moment, although she could see from the 'received' time that she should have gotten it almost fifteen minutes before.

She scanned the email and felt her eyes widen.

_I'm in danger? What kind of danger? And why would Kura-kun tell me to go to Shinra's home?_ she wondered. _Still, I was just thinking that I should go there to get my bearings…and maybe Celty will be there. It might be nice to talk to her again, since I haven't seen her since-_

A sharp crack rang out, making her whirl around, searching for the source of the noise. An instant later, she felt a sharp impact in her shoulder and cried out involuntarily as she staggered.

"What the hell?" she gasped as agony spread through her, centered on her right shoulder. "Damn it!"

Izaya saw her glance over him and then turn away, toward Shinra's place. He saw her pull her phone out, and realized that maybe she was just now getting his warning. That would explain why she wasn't already heading for Shinra and the relative safety the crazy doctor's company might provide.

He took a step toward her. One step too close.

The crack of a gunshot rang out.

"Shit…" he whispered, unable to move as she whirled, then reeled. She must have been hit. But where? Somewhere lethal, like her chest or head? Probably not a headshot, he reasoned, since there would have been a splatter. Wouldn't there? Maybe not; if they were far enough away, it might not have blown her skull to bits.

It was irrelevant, he decided. The first shot had been fired. They would try to finish her off if they hadn't killed her with the first shot, and then they would come after him. He had to get her away from them.

He bolted forward as the other people who had been walking or driving along the street finally registered the sound of a gunshot and stopped what they were doing to look around. The information broker wove his way through them, gaze fixed on Arlua.

As he got closer, he saw she was clutching her shoulder, eyes squeezed shut and expression a mask of pain. She'd been hit, but hopefully if it was her shoulder, it wasn't a fatal shot.

_Unless I can't get her to safety soon enough and they finish her off, or she bleeds out,_ he thought grimly. He ran faster, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

He was so focused on reaching Arlua that he didn't notice the tug on his jacket until he had been spun around and the person who had grabbed him was an instant away from shoving a knife into him.

Izaya twisted away reflexively, even as he heard a second gunshot, and his attacker jerked. The blade bit into his side, scraping his ribs, instead of plunging between them and into his heart or lung.

The informant hissed in pain, and his assailant collapsed, dragging him down with him.

_Damn it!_

But the man was limp. Dead weight.

_What…?_

"Don't just lay there, maggot!" a familiar voice snapped. "Get up and help me; there's to many for me to handle alone!"


	20. Shadow Rescue

**Poll on the name for the sequel to Attenuation is still up on my profile and will be open until this story ends.**

**Disclaimer: My OCs are mine. Their insanity is mine. Durarara is not mine, and its characters are not mine.**

"Don't just lay there, maggot! Get up and help me; there's too many for me to handle alone!" Izaya stared up at the teenager standing over him, gun in hand. The younger information broker rolled his eyes and hauled his cousin to his feet.

"What are you doing here?" Izaya demanded. Supai shrugged.

"Tania texted me," he explained, sidestepping to dodge an incoming bullet from one of Natsuki's people. Izaya looked around. It seemed that most of the noncombatants had fled. Now there were just the targets, a group of people who were presumably in Homeron's employ surrounding the two Oriharas, who stood back to back, and a single man with a knife approaching Arlua, who had sunk to the ground, still clutching her injured shoulder.

Relief washed through him even as he drew his switchblade from his pocket. She was alive.

_Not for long, if that man reaches her,_ he realized, relief fading as quickly as it had come.

"We have to get to Lu-chan," Izaya growled.

"We have to avoid getting killed first," Supai snapped. He leveled his weapon at one of the four people surrounding them. "Can you take out two before they get a shot off?"

"Of course."

"With that slash across your ribs?" Supai snorted as their enemies aimed their own weapons.

"I've fought with worse wounds than this," Izaya muttered.

"Too late," his cousin replied as he threw himself backwards, slamming into the older man and knocking him out of the way as the enemies around them fired and the single man reached Arlua. Izaya expected to land face first on the pavement, but something infinitely black wrapped around him and his cousin, encasing them in a sphere of inky darkness. They couldn't see it, but a similar sphere had surrounded Arlua, who went limp and passed out a moment later.

Celty Sturlson had found the technician and the informants and surrounded them with her shadows. She lifted the spheres to the roof of a nearby building, using yet more shadows to deflect the hail of bullets that was directed at her as soon as Homeron's men realized what was going on.

_I may not like Izaya, but I can't just let him or anyone else get gunned down like that. And Arlua is my friend,_ she thought as she dissolved the spheres around them and turned her focus to the five enemies. The Dullahan dismounted from her bike and summoned her scythe, ready to fight.

There was a soft pop – the sound of a silenced gun – and one of the men staggered, crimson spraying from his throat. Another fell with a throwing knife in his chest. Celty stared as the last three lifted their weapons toward the roof, aiming at the Oriharas. Celty lashed out with her scythe, which passed through all three of them. They cried out and fell. A moment later, she heard three more muted gunshots, and each man jerks and went still.

_They killed them. Izaya and that kid with the gun killed those men,_ she realized, shuddering. She heard police sirens in the distance and trembled as she got back onto her bike, dispelling the scythe. The bike reared and charged at her direction, racing toward and then up the wall of the building she had deposited the Oriharas and Arlua on.

Once she reached the top, she surveyed the three people waiting for her there. Well, the two people waiting and the one who was unconscious, since Arlua was still out cold.

'Who's injured?' she asked, typing the words into her PDA and then showing the screen to them.

"Lu-chan has a bullet in her shoulder," Izaya replied immediately.

"And the maggot got slashed across his ribs,' Supai added, tossing a smirk at his cousin. "I'm fine though."

"We need to get her to Shinra," Izaya said. "And we should leave before the cops get here." Celty shuddered and nodded.

'Get on,' she instructed via her PDA. 'I think I can squeeze you two on, if you hold her.' The older information broker nodded and went over to the unconscious technician. Celty half expected him to just grab her, but instead he carefully eased his arms underneath her and pulled her against his chest, careful not to jostle her shoulder too much. Then he straightened, cradling her limp form, seemingly unaffected by the blood that was trickling over his arm as her carried her to Celty's bike and carefully mounted. His movements showed no sign of the injury Supai had mentioned, although the man's shirt did seem to be slashed and bloody over part of his chest.

The Dullahan twisted around to guide her shadows to wrap around their heads to form helmets, then around their bodies to hold them in place.

"Supai, I assume you know where Shinra lives?" Izaya questioned. His cousin nodded.

"I'll meet you there. Tania and Shizuo are headed there too," he added. "Now go." Celty tapped briskly on her PDA, then showed him the message.

'Be careful.'

"I will," he assured her. A moment later, Supai was alone on the rooftop as the headless woman and her motorcycle carried Arlua and Izaya away. The high schooler leaned over the edge, watching the police cars and ambulances as they accumulated in the street below, then turned to the roof access door. It was locked, so he shrugged and went over to the fire escape. Time to head for Shinra's.

As they neared the apartment Celty and Shinra shared, Izaya sent the doctor a text, trying not to bump Arlua's injured shoulder as he shifted a bit to reach his phone.

'Lu-chan got shot and I got cut. We need your help. Celty is bringing us, and you'll have other guests arriving shortly if they're not there already.'


	21. Treatment

**I'm sorry I haven't updated in forever! It's no excuse for leaving everyone hanging like that, but ice storms and lack of access to a computer are not conducive to writing! **

**Guys! I need more votes on my title poll! It's on my profile, so please vote!**

**Disclaimer: If you don't know that I don't own Drrr! by this point, that's sad.**

Shinra had just finished setting out his medical tools when he heard the door open. He looked up from spreading a sterile plastic sheet over the kitchen table and saw Celty escorting Izaya into the apartment. The informant held Arlua's limp form in his arms. Shinra blinked; both of them were splattered with blood, and were leaving a crimson trail from where the blood was dripping from Arlua's shoulder.

"Wow. You two really are a mess," Shinra commented. "Put her here," he added quickly when Izaya shot him a glare. The informant obeyed, and Shinra carefully cut the cloth of the technician's shirt away from the wound. "So, are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"I don't think you need to be worried about that at the moment," Izaya replied shortly. Shinra sighed.

"Fine, fine. Now hold her down so I don't cause more damage while I get the bullet out," the underground doctor ordered.

Arlua was floating in a dark haze. She remembered the sound of the gun, the agony in her shoulder, and looking around to see Izaya running toward her. She remembered him going down, remembered a glimpse of Supai darting through the crowd, gun in hand.

Then blackness. Then cool relief, and the wonderful absence of pain.

She woke slowly, her body feeling oddly heavy. Her mind was fuzzy and her vision blurry as she struggled to blink awake.

"Finally awake?" a familiar voice asked. Whose voice was that? The technician couldn't place it. "Take it easy. You're on some fairly strong painkillers," the voice continued. Arlua groaned and tried to sit up, but her body didn't move right. She suspected it was her injured shoulder that was causing the problems, but her brain didn't want to put the effort into really thinking about it, so she dismissed the issue for the moment and focused on that voice. She looked around groggily and found a familiar figure standing over her.

"Shin…ra…?" she mumbled, frowning. "Wha…?"

"Celty brought you and Izaya here. Supai, Tania, and Shizuo are here, too. It's a miracle the place is still standing with Izaya and Shizuo both here, but they've turned my apartment into a hotel, and interrupted every aspect of my life with Celty!" the doctor complained.

"Tough luck. Your place was the safest meeting point," a second familiar voice grumbled.

"Shi?" Arlua turned her head to see her blond friend sitting on Shinra's coffee table. Which meant she was more than likely laying on Shinra's couch.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Shizuo asked, concern showing in his expression. Arlua managed a smile.

"Like I'm on fairly strong painkillers," she replied, her mind clearing at last. "Shinra, you said Supai and Tania were here too?"

"We're right here," Tania answered, stepping into view and twining her fingers with Shizuo's. "Your boss wanted to come see you, by the way, but the flea wouldn't let him." Arlua frowned.

"How long was I out?" she demanded. "And why wouldn't Izz…Orihara let Yamakawa see me?"

"About a day. Shinra kept you under to keep an eye on your wound. Apparently when you started to wake up the first time, you wiggled around so much that you nearly fell off the couch," Supai answered, leaning over the back of said couch to grin at her. "As for Yamakawa, well…"

"To start with, his real name is Nakao," Tania broke in. Arlua blinked.

"Huh?"

"That's enough," announced another voice, this one astonishingly familiar considering it had been weeks since she had heard it. "She needs rest, so leave her alone." Shizuo scowled and opened his mouth to say something, but Tania squeezed his hand gently, and he sighed. To everyone's apparent surprise, Arlua glared in the direction of the voice.

"Oh, no. You don't get to do this, you filthy germ," she snapped. Supai laughed shortly and left the room quickly. Tania pulled Shizuo after him, and Shinra followed after pausing to give Izaya a warning glance, as if to say 'Don't you dare upset her so much that it causes a relapse.'

"Do what, Lu-chan?" Izaya inquired, moving around the couch and sitting on the coffee table, where Shizuo had been a moment earlier.

"Waltz in after weeks of pretending I don't exist, and say crap like that like you're concerned about me, and start calling me that name again," she spat. He sighed.

"Lu-"

"No. My name is Teki," she snapped. He met her angry gaze with his own calm-yet-sad one. She refused to acknowledge the sad part of that look, instead focusing on the fact that he was calm. He had known she would react like this!

"Fair enough. I'll just go back to calling you Tek-chan then," he said evenly. She scowled and opened her mouth to snap at him some more, then froze.

"What did you just say?" she demanded. He sighed again.

"Tek-chan. That's what I've been calling you for the last few weeks, except in my head, where you're still Lu-chan to me," he elaborated. She gaped at him, her still-slightly-painkiller-fuzzy mind struggling to make sense of this completely inconceivable thing he had just revealed.

"You…you're Kura-kun?" she whispered. Izaya nodded, emotions hidden behind a blank expression rather than the smirk she had expected.

"I didn't spend the last few weeks pretending you didn't exist, Lu-chan," he said quietly, purposefully using the first nickname. "I spent the last few weeks ensuring that you continued to exist. If you had shown any sign of knowing that I was the one you were emailing, it could have tipped off Homeron's guards. If I had acknowledged you in person or made any other form of noticeable contact, we would both have been killed, which I'm fairly certain you were aware of. Can you really blame me for protecting you?"

"AS if you did it for me! You did it to save your own germy hide!" she growled. He shook his head.

"No, Lu-chan-"

"Quit calling me that! And don't call me Tek-chan either!" she shouted. "You have no right to use any sort of familiar form of address with me, you little cretin!" Izaya closed his eyes and pressed his lips together.

"Lu-chan," he said firmly. When she started to protest the use of the nickname, he held up a hand, and she settled for glaring at him. "I know you don't believe me. But I am capable of protecting myself. If it were just to save my own skin, I would have simply killed Homeron's watchers. But that might have set her off, made her go after you. So to protect you, I went along with her rules, stayed under the radar as much as I could. I didn't contact you in person, and I was careful to disguise the emails we exchanged. I also monitored your situation indirectly through my disreputable cousin."

"And now? Everyone's here together. Surely Natsuki will be 'set off' as you put it by that," she snapped.

"Considering she already tried to have everyone in this apartment except Shinra and Celty assassinated, I don't think we can set her off any more at this point," he pointed out.

"So it was her people that did this?" she asked, nodding to the bandages around her shoulder. Izaya's expression darkened.

"Yes. And she'll pay for it. Her people are already dead, except for her brother, who vanished once I turned him away and informed him that we knew who he really was," the informant replied. Arlua frowned. Was he saying that he was going to make Natsuki pay…for ordering her people to attack the technician?

_It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if he really is concerned about me or why he stayed away. He lied to me and never explained. He could have had Supai tell me, or he could have trusted me to conceal who I was emailing. He didn't have to lie to me the whole time._

Then she noticed that there were bandages peeking out from a rip across the chest of his shirt.

"Did her people do that, too?" she asked, automatically reaching out to brush her fingers – not the ones attached to her injured shoulder – over the line of bandaging.

"Yes. One of them tried to stab me while I was trying to get to you," he told her, his voice low and almost gentle as he watched her frown at his injury.

She realized that she was lightly stroking his chest and yanked her hand back.

"Good. I hear being injured is usually karma for lying," she growled, folding her arms so she wouldn't reach for him again, and wincing when the action tugged at her wound, which was presumably stitched up. She turned her head toward the back of the couch. "Go away, cretin," she said, suddenly exhausted. "I'm too tired to put up with your crap."

He was quiet for a long moment. Then she heard him shift as if standing. Another quiet moment. Then she tenses as she felt his lips brush her temple.

"I'll send Shinra and the monster and the others back in," he informed her. Then he was gone, and she told herself that the sudden ache in her chest was from her bullet wound.


	22. Arrested Fury

**Okay! Since I didn't update Friday, I'm updating today!**

**Please remember, if you haven't voted on the title for the next story yet, please please please go vote on the poll on my profile!**

**Disclaimer: I own my OCs (which unfortunately includes Natsuki but does not include Izaya, Shizuo, or any other DRRR! characters).**

Izaya glanced over his shoulder, watching as Shinra checked the bandages on Arlua's wounds.

"Oi. Flea." The information broker tensed and turned to see Shizuo and Tania watching him. "What're you going to do about Natsuki?" the bodyguard continued.

"Why should I do anything about her?" Izaya replied, temporarily ignoring the fact that he had been planning to deal with the problem that was Natsuki Homeron all along.

"Because the way I see it, this whole damn mess is your fault," the blond growled. "It's you she wants revenge on, right? It's your fault she doesn't trust Arlua, and it's your fault Supai got involved."

"But it's your fault your fiancé is in danger," the informant pointed out, pasting his usual smirk on his face. Shizuo scowled.

"Just take care of Homeron, flea," Tania ordered calmly. "Before I shoot you and see how well you dodge signs and vending machines with no kneecaps." Izaya shook his head in mock disappointment.

"I suppose you would have to handicap me so I don't make Shizu-chan look like an idiot like usual. Except…only a true _monster_ would attack a man when he's already been stabbed and shot," he said slyly. Tania's expression tightened as she fought down her anger.

"Only a true _monster_ would insult a man whose only fault in this is loving someone who's not the psychopath who's obsessed with him," she countered shortly, squeezing Shizuo's hand gently.

"Can I interrupt here?" Supai piped up.

"No," the three adults replied in unison. Then Tania and Shizuo glared at Izaya, who glared right back.

"Okay, seriously? You three are acting like middle schoolers. Therefore, as the resident high schooler, I am the mature one and therefore obligated to tell you three to get a grip." Bodyguard and teacher stared at the younger Orihara, and Izaya laughed at his cousin's forbidding glare as the boy continued, "Tania, you shouldn't leave the apartment. Shizuo, I'm sure she'd feel better if you were with her. Maggot, go fix this. And if you die, I'm taking over your clients."

Izaya didn't bother deigning to respond to that. He simply shook his head over his cousin's foolishness and headed for the door.

"Since you're so incompetent that you can't handle her, my disreputable cousin, I suppose I can arrange Homeron's demise," he conceded loftily. Supai rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Just go away," he muttered. His cousin considered replying, but decided to ignore the comment and head for the street where Homeron's men had attacked them, figuring that the police would still be there performing their potentially ineffective investigation. But their investigation would be a success, because even if they didn't have all of the information they needed to put the blame for the incident on the shoulders of Natsuki Homeron, they would when Izaya was done with them.

Natsuki Homeron was scowling at the wall of her home office, trying to decide how to proceed. She had confirmation that Arlua had been shot and Izaya had been injured as well, although Supai remained unhurt and the other two were nowhere to be found. Police had swarmed the area, so she had been unable to collect more information. All she knew was what one of the men stationed nearby in a strictly observational role had reported before the police cleared the area and rounded people up to interview.

Her doorbell rang, and she frowned. She wasn't expecting anyone. The hitmen she had hired all knew to ring the bell twice in a row. Her foster family, the Nakaos, knew that as well. When a second ring didn't come immediately, she knew that the person at her door must not be part of her plot to rid the world of the filth that was Izaya Orihara and his allies.

"Miss Homeron, we need to talk to you," an unfamiliar voice called through the door. Natsuki sighed and fixed a pleasant expression on her face before going to answer said door.

"How can I help you?" she asked as she opened it.

"I'm afraid you need to come with us, miss," the unfamiliar voice replied. Natsuki froze as she took in the person – no, people – waiting outside her door.

"May I ask why the police need me?" she inquired as politely as she could. Inwardly, though, the rage was swelling.

How dare they? How dare they interrupt her when she was trying to figure out how to complete her plan with the unforeseen possibility that her targets had survived surfacing? How dare they tell her to go with them?

Orihara must be behind this. It didn't matter which one, although it was surely the younger one, the meddling high school student, since the older one had been injured.

How dare that brat continue to meddle in her plans? How dare he save the cousin he supposedly despised and then alert the police to Natsuki's involvement? How dare he how dare he how dare he!

"How dare he-" she started to snarl, fists clenching, only for one of the officers to step forward and redirect the fury that was growing inside her onto himself. "How dare you! How dare you come here!" she nearly shrieked. One of the policemen seemed taken aback, but the one closest to her simply took hold of her arm in a firm but gentle way.

"Miss, we have a warrant for your arrest in relation to the murder of Malcolm Yuuki and the assault and attempted murder of Izaya and Supai Orihara and Arlua Teki, in addition to conspiracy to commit the murder of Tania Yuuki," the man holding her arm informed her. He expected shock, denial, anger…even confusion, if the information he had been given was wrong. Instead, he got unbridled rage.

When he finished speaking, Natsuki screeched and wrenched her arm out of his grasp.

"How dare you accuse me of that! You have no proof! Those Oriharas are liars! They're the ones trying to get rid of me! I was defending myself! I was warning them away – and warning that bitch to stay away from my Shizuo!" she screamed, backing away from the officers, who were exchanging uncertain glances. They weren't sure how to react to this…this irrational fury.

"Miss…" the closest man began.

"Get out! Get out of my home! Go arrest those filthy Oriharas and the traitor, Teki!" she shrieked, lunging at him, her fingers curled into claws as she swiped at his face. "Out! Go do your job!" At that point, the policemen's training reasserted itself, and the man she was clawing at seized her wrists while his comrades drew their weapons in case she came at them next. Before the hacker knew what was happening, she was pinned to the floor, handcuffed, then hauled to her feet.

"I think we can add attacking an officer to your list of crimes, Miss Homeron," one of the other men said grimly. "You're going to be locked away for a long time."


	23. Attenuation Announcement

**Disclaimer: in this rushed, not-as-good-as-I-would-like chapter, I own only my OCs and nothing else.**

When Izaya returned to Shinra's apartment, Arlua was carefully making her way around the living room, tentatively stretching her arm. Tania was leaning against the wall between Supai and Shizuo, talking to the young informant in low tones. Shinra was watching Arlua closely, presumably making sure she didn't tear her stitches. Celty was nowhere to be seen.

"Back already, flea?" Shizuo grunted, irritation at Izaya's presence visible but not out of control.

"I was gone for two and a half hours. Not long enough for you, Shizu-chan?" the information broker replied. He noticed Arlua tense out of the corner of his eye and suppressed a frustrated sigh. He hadn't realized she would be this angry…angry enough to give up on trying to deal with him. But from her reaction earlier, when she said she was too tired to put up with his crap, that was exactly what had happened.

"You're never gone long enough, you damn louse," the bodyguard replied grumpily. Izaya gave a dramatic sigh and shook his head in mock dismay.

"You're so mean, Shizu-chan. It makes me not want to tell you the wonderful news," the informant replied in a petulant tone. He snuck a glance at Arlua, but the technician was steadfastedly ignoring him. He wondered if she was just pretending, or if she really didn't care what he was saying.

"Don't play games, maggot. I've had enough waiting for things to happen. Tell us what's going on," Supai snapped. Izaya frowned at his cousin for a moment, then shrugged.

"Maybe if you ask nicely," he smirked. A soft click drew his attention to Tania.

"Tell. Us. Now. Or I'll shoot you in the foot," she threatened, aiming her weapon at his ankles.

"Now, now, Ani-chan-"

"What did you just call me?" she snarled.

"Ani-chan! Isn't that what Shizu-chan calls you? So I'm going to call you Ani-chan from now on!" the informant explained, trademark smirk falling into place easily as he forced himself to concentrate on this banter and what he knew that they didn't. Namely, his success in dealing with Natsuki.

"Cut the crap, cretin," Arlua ordered. Izaya's smirk grew as he turned toward her.

"Oh, are you feeling up to putting up with me now?" he asked. Her glare made him think that maybe he shouldn't have said that.

"I said cut the crap, not direct it at me. Tell us what you're so pleased with yourself about or Tania will shoot your almost-stab-wound, not your foot," the technician informed him. He blinked, then shrugged nonchalantly and raised his hands as if in surrender.

"As you wish, Lu-chan," he agreed cheerfully. Before she could snap at him for using the nickname, he continued, "Natsuki Homeron is now in police custody and undergoing a psychological evaluation, which I'm sure she will do poorly on. She's under arrest for a variety of charges, on the information provided by myself. She won't be bothering us again."

"What about her men?" Supai demanded.

"In hiding, along with the man who called himself Yatsuhiro Yamakawa. They won't want to be linked to Homeron," Izaya told them.

"So basically you tattled on everyone and now we don't have to worry," Arlua summarized.

"You could put it that way, yes," Izaya replied. Arlua sighed.

"Wonderful. Can I go home now, Shinra?" she asked. The underground doctor blinked, surprised by being addressed to suddenly.

"I guess so, as long as someone goes with you," he replied. "But be careful with that shoulder, and come back in a week for a checkup, okay?" The technician nodded and glanced around.

"Supai? I'm guessing Shi wants to stay with Tania, so would you-"

"I'll walk her home," Izaya interrupted. Shinra frowned.

"Izaya…"

"I'll be on my best behavior," the informant promised. The doctor glanced at Arlua questioningly. The technician hesitated, then nodded.

"That's fine," she agreed. Then she grimaced at the bandages visible through the cut in her shirt, where Shinra had operated on her wound. Izaya shrugged off his jacket and held it out to her. Arlua scowled at the offering.

"Lu-chan. I know from the look on your face a second ago that you don't want to go out with those bandages showing. Just use the jacket," he urged. She grimaced and obeyed, hissing softly as she had to move her injured shoulder to put the jacket on. Izaya and Shizuo both opened their mouths to offer to help her, only for her to shoot them a glare that silenced them.

It was a silent, tense journey to Arlua's apartment on the other side of Ikebukuro. When the two were standing outside her building, though, she stopped and took off Izaya's jacket.

"I let you walk me back so I could tell you something without the others hearing," she told him, gaze fixed on the garment in her hands.

"All right. What is it?" he asked. She took a deep breath.

"For a while, after you disappeared, all I wanted was for you to come back. Even if it meant Natsuki would attack us. I just wanted to see you again. To figure out what to do together," she admitted. He blinked, a spark of hope lighting in him. She hadn't wanted to distance herself from him? But if that was true…

"You said you didn't want to be my technician," he pointed out. "I thought you had decided to keep your distance."

"I said I didn't want to be your technician. I never said I didn't want to be near you," she replied. "I meant that I didn't want to be your employee. I wanted to be with you. I loved you, like I said before I left." Izaya stared at her. He couldn't let the spark of hope grow, not when she was speaking in the past tense. "When you vanished, I decided I needed the opposite of your insanity. I realize now how silly that was. I needed you." He started to speak, but she cut him off by holding out his jacket. "I don't need either of the people I tried to replace you with. I don't need someone who looks like you or someone who acts like you – although apparently you really were one of the people I tried to replace you with. I count that as an extra betrayal, by the way. I needed you, and you disappeared. You pretended like I didn't exist when you were taunting Shi in front of me.

"You're crazy, and twisted, and evil, and you're constantly antagonizing the people I care about. I shouldn't have fallen in love with you. But you're clever, you're challenging. You interest me on a level no one else ever has or ever will." She took a deep breath, fighting to keep her voice steady and keep her gaze away from his face so she couldn't see his expression. The things she wanted to say fought each other, warring inside her.

_I want to forget you. _

_I want you to be with me. _

_I don't want to need you._

_I want you._

In the end, she did what her computers did when protocols collided. She shut down. She blocked him out. Again.

"You may have saved me. You may have saved the others – Tania and Shizuo and Supai."

"May have? I _did_," he pointed out, an odd tone in his voice, a tone she refused to identify.

She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to slap him for hurting her.

She continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"You may have helped. But I won't let you in again. You vanished once before. You'll vanish again whenever you feel like it. And I'm not wiling to risk that. You think what you did will even out? Well, I never react the way you think I will, do I?" He tensed. "Well here's me surprising you again. I've moved on," she lied. "I told you in that email to _Kura-kun_. I've given up on you. I don't need you anymore, and if you come back, you won't have to worry about Tania or Supai shooting you or Shi crushing you with a vending machine, because I will get you first."

He was silent. Stunned into silence. He had considered this possibility, but he had hoped it wouldn't happen. So much for hope.

"This time, I'm choosing the separation. Look up the term 'attenuation'. It's happened, and you can't fix it. Good-bye, Izaya Orihara. Stay out of my life." Arlua dropped his jacket onto the ground and walked into the building, leaving him outside, staring after her.

And for once, the reaction Izaya felt at her words didn't intrigue him. It horrified him.


	24. Epilogue: Six Months Later

**Disclaimer: At this point, this should really be unnecessary.**

Arlua beamed as she watched Tania and Shizuo dancing together. The two had been pronounced husband and wife just an hour before, and now their wedding reception was fully underway, with the newlyweds dancing to the first song alone while their guests watched. Arlua, in her silvery-blue maid of honor dress, observed from the sidelines. The best man, his brother Kasuka, stood beside her. Because of their positions, Kasuka was officially her escort, and they would be joining the bride and groom for the second dance, along with any other couples who wanted to take the dance floor. Shinra and Celty, standing on the other side of the room, would certainly be dancing.

So far, the even had gone perfectly. The first song ended, and pairs of guests began to move onto the dance floor. Kasuka started to offer his hand to Arlua, but she could tell that he really didn't want to dance. The reserved man probably didn't care for being in a crowd without a character to play. Or maybe he just saw Kadota making his way over and didn't want to get in the way.

"You can sit this one out if you want," the technician told him. The actor appeared to consider, then nodded and stepped back just as Kadota reached them.

"Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey, Kyohei," she replied, smiling at her friend, who she had become closer to during the six months since Natsuki's arrest and the conviction and permanent relocation to an asylum it had resulted in. "Want to dance?" She knew Kadota was typically shy, but she could tell that he wanted to talk to her. She normally would have suggested they step outside to discuss whatever it was, but she was nervous about letting Tania and Shizuo out of her sight for the duration of the reception. It felt like if she turned away for a moment, she would miss her chance.

Because how better to find someone than to be close to their enemies?

"All right," her friend – who had become something of an older-brother figure in the past few months – agreed, understanding her reluctance to leave the reception, even briefly.

As the second song started – a slow, dignified waltz that Supai had suggested – the two danced on the edge of the group, talking in low tones.

"You haven't seen him, have you?" Kadota asked. Arlua shook her head.

"No. I was sure he would come to mess with Shi," the technician sighed as he guided her through a turn.

"Why didn't you email or call him or something?" Kadota questioned.

"Because some things are best said in person," she replied. "You know I've been doing a lot of thinking these last six months. And you know what I said to him. Kyohei…" she trailed off, looking away for a moment. "How do I tell him that I lied to him?" He chuckled softly, and she blinked, surprised by his reaction.

"I think it'll be easier than you would expect," he replied, nodded to someone behind her. Arlua frowned and stopped in her tracks, eyes widening as she turned, ignoring the music and facing the person she had been waiting to see.

"Izzy," she whispered, the nickname slipping out of her mouth involuntarily. The information broker studied her, expression calm and curious, although she could see the tension in his gaze.

"You said something about lying, Lu-chan?" he prompted quietly. The technician nodded.

"When I said I had moved on. I lied. I tried to forget about you, to make what I said the truth, but it didn't work," she told him quietly.

He studied her for a moment as Kadota slipped away, leaving them on the edge of the group to talk.

"I'm sorry for saying what I did six months ago," she said softly. "I was hoping you would be here today so I could see you again and tell you that." He tilted his head, regarding her silently for a moment. Then he stepped toward her and held out his hand.

"There's still some time left in this song," he told her. "Would you like to dance?" She didn't hesitate to put her hand in his and step toward him. His free hand was on her hip, hers was on his shoulder. After a few steps, though, as he led her to merge with the timing of the other dancers, her hand strayed from his shoulder, down to his chest. "Dota-chin and Shinra said your shoulder has healed just fine, no trace of the wound," he murmured.

"Well, there's still a bit of a scar," she replied. "What about your cut?" she asked, tracing the line on his chest where the injury had been the last time she had seen him.

"Same," he answered. "Listen, Lu-chan," he began, only to stop and observe her reaction, remembering that the last time he had tried to call her by a nickname, she hadn't been terribly pleased with him.

"You can call me whatever you want to," she assured him. His lips twitched upward, not quite smiling, but not quite smirking either.

"Lu-chan," he began again, this time more confident, "I'm sorry I hurt you. I was trying to protect you by keeping my distance, and I thought it was what you wanted. I it would be best to play along with Homeron until I found a way to get rid of her." Arlua's eyes widened.

_Izaya Orihara? Apologizing?_ Her surprise must have shown, if his next words were any indication.

"Surpised that I would protect you?" he questioned.

"Surprised you would apologized. The 'to protect someone besides yourself' thing hadn't registered yet," she replied.

"But you're so much like me; of course I want to protect you," he countered. "You're above normal humans, remember? And that's a good thing in your case." He paused, seeming to collect his thoughts as they spun along with the other pairs. "Lu-chan, before you left the day I offered you a support contract…"

"I meant it," she replied. "I loved you then. And…the reason I wanted to apologize in person is because I still love you," the technician admitted. Izaya smiled, not a smirk, but a true smile.

"I love you, too, Lu-chan," he replied softly, pulling her closer. She pulled her hand out of his and slid her arms around his neck as his hand migrated to her hip, mirroring the one that had been on her other side as they danced. She tilted her face upwards, and he leaned down to seal their lips together in a kiss that Arlua hadn't realized how much she had needed in the months they had been apart.

He deepened the kiss, and her fingers tangled in his hair so she could pull him closer. After a few long moments, they broke apart, Arlua trying not to pant and Izaya grinning as he rested his forehead on hers.

"By the way, Lu-chan, I don't kiss my lovely humans," he said, his usual half-mocking tone slightly more breathy than usual. "I'm above them, you see? But you're my equal, so I can enjoy kissing you." She blinked up at him, astonished. Before she could reply, though, a slightly strangled-sounding cough caught her attention. Izaya sighed, and she knew from his expression just who had approached them and gotten their attention, even before she turned to look.

"Hello, Shi," the technician sighed, feeling her cheeks warm in embarrassment. There was a long moment, and then Shizuo's voice reached her ears.

"Does this mean you'll be mad if I crush the flea?" he asked, voice sounding kind of strange as he struggled to keep his tone even.

"Yes. Yes, it does," she answered, resisting the temptation to just bury her face in Izaya's chest until her friend went away. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. Tania's going to throw the bouquet soon. Hurry up and go over there so you can catch it. That way I can tease Maggot," Supai replied cheerfully as he walked past. Arlua blushed and glared at him.

"Shut up before I hack your computer and fill it with viruses," she muttered. Then she glanced at Izaya and added quietly, "You know, the problem of attenuation is often fixed by shortening the distance between the endpoints." The information broker chuckled, understanding her meaning perfectly for once.

**Thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed this story! **__**I still need more votes on the poll to determine the title of the sequel to this story. Right now it's looking like Collision Domain or System Error. Please vote!**

**I will hopefully be finishing Chocolates tomorrow. If not, feel free to PM me to encourage me to be productive. **

**Also, if you review this chapter with a oneshot request, I'll do my best to write them all. **


End file.
